Guild Wars 2 Destiny's Edge Reborn
by Jet.Pk
Summary: /works/2416244/chapters/5344982. Please go and read it here. It's been redone and it's being actively worked on there. It's not being updated here anymore due to fanfiction's crappy formatting and editing. Cut's the link out halfway so you'll just have to copy and paste the rest and go to the link with archiveofourown on it. Thanks. Jet
1. Prologue

**Guild Wars 2 Destiny's Edge Reborn**

**Prologue**

_Four figures hovered over an Asura clutching a corpse. All of them aside from the tiny creature who was sniffling and sobbing had grim looks plastered on their faces._

_"M-m-master I-I-I'm so sorry, so sorry! If only I would have gotten to you sooner!" The Asura said in a pained whisper as more tears spilled out of the corner of her eyes._

_A Norn woman took a step foward and knelt beside her. "Zojja... I'm sorry... I thought we would have been able to pull it off...I... I'm just... I'm sorry. He was a good man." She was about to reach out and touch her shoulder but she smacked the hand away clearly not wanting the kind gesture._

_Zojja looked up from the corpse to the Norn with teary eyed anger. "D-Don't you touch me! This is all your fault!" She seethed. "I told you we should have retreated!? Did all that stupid Norn glory go to your head?! Tell me Eir why? Why!?" She raved at the red head._

_Eir went wide eyed at the outburst and turned her head away. She didn't have anything to justify her miscalculation. A human male walked up from behind her. He was in a full set of Protector Armor._

_He sighed. "Zojja don't be too hard on her. She did what she thought was best." He said trying to sound as sincere as possible. This obviously didn't work as her face turned into a feral scowl when she directed her attention towards him._

_"SHUT UP LOGAN! DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO PATRONIZE ME! THIS IS ABOUT AS MUCH OF YOUR FAULT AS IT IS HERS! WHY THE HELL DID YOU LEAVE!? WE NEEDED YOU AND YOU JUST UP AND LEAVE US! I SUPPOSE THE CAT'S GOING TO HAVE YOUR TONGUE TOO!?" She bellowed with rage._

_It was Logan's turn to be angry. "You wouldn't have understood! Placing the blame on everyone is not going to bring him back! It isn't Eir's fault, it's not my fault, it isn't anyones fault. Snaff was my friend as well and if you think I'm not in the least bit affected by his death well YOU'RE WRONG! You have no idea the amount of anger I have in me right now. I want to find that bastard dragon and kill it for what it's done! "Logan said gritting his teeth and starting to visibly shake from anger."_

_"Save it Thackery. Your honeyed words aren't going to fool anyone anymore." A deep voice spoke up. It belonged to a charr. "Your idiotic desire to protect your weak queen may have gotten us all killed. Even though casualties are at a minimum the fact still remains... you put all of us in jeopardy!" the black armored Charr snapped._

_Logan took a threatning step foward. Both of them were inches away from each other's faces. "Listen Rytlock... if you want to hate me, curse my name and blame me for his death then fine but don't you ever...ever insult Queen Jennah in my presence again. If she didn't summon me to Ebonhawke Keep when she did then her forces would have been overwhelmed by the dragonspawn and she may have very well been killed. You have no idea what kind of repercussions that would have had for the empire if she were to have died during that entire fiasco."_

_Rytlock snorted at this. "As to be expected from a typical human. All your people care about are their own selfish interests. Tell me something Logan ? Did you go there out of concern for her safety and the safety of her soldiers or did you go because of your foolish infatuation with her ? Which is it?" the tribune said in a cool tone. Everyone got uneasy as they began to see the tension growing between the two of them. Logan began to rest a hand on the hilt of his sword._

_The charr noticed this and smirked "Honestly it galls me on why a queen as pathetic as herself is chosen to lead an entire nation if she can't even defend herself against a few measly pests." He said mockingly and obviously attempting to bait the man in front of him. Rytlock's trap worked as Logan's face contorted into fury as he unsheathed his sword and shield and launched himself at his friend. Rytlock drew Sohothin and parried the blade. Everyone else looked worriedly at the two as they locked swords._

_"TO HELL WITH YOU BRIMSTONE! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THE SACRIFICES SHE'S HAD TO MAKE TO PROTECT OUR COUNTRY. SHE'S DONE MORE FOR OUR PEOPLE THAN YOU'LL EVER FATHOM SO DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO MAKE LIGHT OF WHAT SHE DOES YOU CONCEITED BASTARD!" Logan thundered. With a grunt Rytlock pushed into him causing him to lean back. With strong force the charr threw him back causing him to be taken off his feet. Logan quickly regained his balance and skidded to a halt._

_"You fool! You don't get it do you!" Rytlock said with his tone starting to grow harsher. "What do you think would have happened if the dragon had killed all of us... huh!?" At this point Rytlock was practically roaring at him. "Your precious Divinity's Reach would have been it's next target and they would have been powerless to stop it!"_

_Logan's eyebrows raised a bit before his eyes settled on the ground. He didn't have anything to counter that blow. Rytlock wasn't finished yet._

_"You were our leader! How could you think of leaving us in a dire situation like that? Are we not your friends? Are we not your comrades!?" Rytlock said in a less harsher tone._

_"That isn't true and you know it!" Logan defended._

_"SPARE ME YOUR LIES! YOU SPAT ON MY TRUST, SNAFF'S TRUST AND EVERYONE ELSE'S TRUST! If anything, it may as well have been you who killed him yourself!" Rytlock said wickedly._

_"Rytlock! That's going way too far!" The Norn ranger said from behind them. A speeding figure rushed past her causing her to jump back startled._

_"BRIMSTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!" Logan screeched with killing intent spread nastily across his face._

_Rytlock pushed his way past the red head and charged as well. "THACKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY!"_

_"Both of you stop this right now!" Eir pleaded in vain. Before the two could meet each other a smokescreen exploded in front of them, stopping the two from any further action. "That's enough..." A sylvian voice spoke with authority. The 5th member of the group walked up to the rest of them deciding that she had seen and heard enough. Caithe aside from Eir was the only level headed one of the team. She looked between the two men in front of her. Both of them were panting hard with murderous anger still on their faces. A storm began to set in as lightning kept streaking through the sky._

_Caithe sighed then spoke. "All of you are too emotional right now. Do you think this is what Snaff would have wanted? For all of us to be at odds with one another?"_

_"It's impossible to know what he wants since he's dead because of this damn traitor!" Rytlock spat._

_"He would have wanted us Rytlock...to keep forging ahead instead of pointing fingers and placing blame." Caithe interjected before another brawl could insue because of the charr's statement. "Guys we're a team. We can still find this dragon and make things right. It doesn't have to end this way." The sylvari thief said trying to console everyone._

_"Well we're not a team anymore. I refuse to partner with a dumb, love struck imbecile who would abandon his companions on a moments notice." The Charr tribune stated fiercly._

_"And I refuse to be on a team with a self righteous ass who can't see the greater scope of things." Logan stated coldly._

_The thief simply shook her head at this and turned to Eir and Zojja in hopes that they'd help her sway the boys. She let the idea die off. Eir had one of her arms behind her as she stared up into the sky lost in thought and giving silent prayers to the fallen. Zojja hadn't said a word since Logan's and Rytlock's scuffle. She sat there still clutching Snaff's motionless body._

_It began to rain hard as everyone stood there in a soothing silence. It was pleasant given the fact that lightning was streaking around them. "Yay team..." Caithe muttered. Her face including everyone else's was shadowed as they soaked in the rain. Destiny's Edge was no more._

_As time went by warm friendships grew cold and long forgotten hatred took precedence over anything else. Dark forces began to move about, thirsting and plotting. If allowed, these said forces could threaten the security and peace of an already turbulent continent. Troubling times called for even more desperate measures and luckily for Tyria, it would have it's deliverance._

* * *

**Timeskip to 10 years later**

_"Logan you know any other time I'd trust in your judgement but I really don't think this will work out. There won't be anyone else like the original Destiny's Edge." Queen Jennah said bluntly. Jennah was a woman in her mid 30s. She was a long haired brunette with brown eyes. She could always be seen wearing a yellow dress of extravagant design. She sat across from the Seraph Commander with an uneasy gaze set on him._

_He looked up from the map he was studying, a determined expression on his face. " I understand your doubts my queen but I have utter faith in the two people I'm choosing for this assignment."_

_The queen still didn't look convinced. "You said that you've known this thief for quite some time? You're positive that you can vouch for his capabilities?"_

_Logan nodded. "If anyone can get a group capable of taking down Kralkatorrik then it's him. He may not seem like much but he can be charismatic, diplomatic and damn scary when he wants to be." The commander said assuredly._

_"I hope you're right Logan. If Kralkatorrik is allowed to gain more power then we will really have our hands full. There's also the threat of other dragons waking up as well." Queen Jennah stated solemnly._

_"Yes... there's the possibility of that as well." He said grimly. "Yes... there's the possibility of that as well." He said grimly. "I do have some good news though. I managed to get a hold of Kasmeer. She'd be more than happy to join the cause._

_Queen Jennah raised any eyebrow. "Really?"_

_"Yes, Starkk and her are childhood friends and I could think of no one better to back him." Logan said smiling. The queen smiled as well, obviously satisfied with this new tidbit of information. "Lady Meade's record is impressive. She saved the Shadow of Intent from the Zoram Strand Pirates during that awful ambush in the Nibean Straits."_

_The commander shook his head. "I also hear that she's part of some powerful, secretive mesmer collective." He said inquisitively._

_Queen Jennah got up. "Well Logan I will trust in your judgement. You have my absolute support and faith in this new group. I'm hoping they can do and accomplish where other's have failed. May Dwayna guide them both." With that they both walked towards the balcony and gazed at the horizon. There was new found hope in this plan against the dragons and other forces threatning Tyria's peace. Would they pull it off? Only time would tell as their adventure unfolds._

* * *

Okay that's it for the prologue. Just a few things I want to clear up before I get any further. First of all, anyone expecting a Kasmeer x Marjory lesbomancy look elsewhere. These two will be best friends only in this fanfic. I already have most of the pairings decided for this story. My main toon on the game will be the protagonist for this story. I will probably add some of my other toons as well as some of my friend's toons in this story. This is a new reformed Destiny's Edge group so the old will not be in this group. Expect other heroes that you have grown to know and love to be in this new group. That's all and hope you've enjoyed the prologue. Stay tuned for chapter 1.

Jet~


	2. Chapter 1: Shifting Winds

**Chapter 1: Shifting Winds**

Divinity's Reach, a flourishing metropolis filled with endless opportunity. The streets were flooded with people trying to reach their destinations, whether they were on their way to hear the latest gossip in taverns or tales of glory. Others could be seen lined up amongst the various shops and browsing the various wares that the merchants had set out. Among the more important areas of the city the Seraph Guard could be seen either patrolling or posted up at key points. Law and order were strictly maintained. Crime wasn't tolerated with the perpetrators being dealt with swiftly and severely depending on the magnitude of the infraction. At the heart of the city lies the Royal Palace which is home to none other than Queen Jennah herself. Protected by her royal guard and the Seraph Commander Logan Thackery, the palace was strictly forbidden to the public and only those with important business were allowed audience with the Queen or other officials. The city as a whole, was a place of peace.

Over on a bench, a young woman who looked to be in her early 20's could be seen with a bored expression on her face and fiddling with an exotic staff that crackled and glowed with purple arcane energy. For the random passerby she looked out of place. She had straight blonde hair that reached down to her shoulders. Ice blue eyes scanned the area in hopes of finding something to alleviate her less than desirable predicament. A small current of wind blew her odd cream colored dress as she got up. To most men, she would be considered stunningly beautiful.

Kasmeer sighed as she gently placed **Mirage **on her back. " That doofus, I knew he'd be late." She said in annoyance as she rubbed her temples. "You tell him to meet you somewhere at a specific time and he either shows up 10 hours later or not at all..." Now that she thought about it she didn't know why she tolerated her best friend's antics up until this point. It had been going on since they were kids so she guessed she was use to it by now or so she thought but it never made it any less annoying each time he did it. As she lost herself in her rantings an elderly merchant seemed to notice her behavior and walked up. "Um miss? Is there something I can help you with?" He said gently.

The Mesmer blinked at him "Oh, haha, sorry mister I was just lost in thought but no, I'm okay... wellllll there's something I'd like to ask?" She said sweetly.

He was a little surprised at how polite she was and smiled at her with an equally warm grin of his own. " Well, what would you like to know? I'd be more than happy to help?"

"Where's the nearest tavern? I'm looking for my bonehead friend and I think I may be able to find him there." She said.

He put a hand on his bearded chin for a few seconds before gesturing down the street. " If you follow the path over yonder and make a right it should take you to Yulgar Inn. That's the nearest one I can think of. "He said thoughtfully. His face grew serious as he walked over and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Be careful milady. The Seraph have been getting reports of brigands hanging around the inn but they haven't been able to catch them or spare any more patrols due to the war. So far they haven't been violent but those aren't the kind of people a young lady such as yourself should be around... uh are you okay?" He said noticing her trembling slightly.

Kasmeer's fake grin was doing poor work to hide her obvious fear. "b-b-b-brigands hic!?" She said hiccuping in a quivering voice. "N-not to worry, I c-c-can look after myself n-n-no problem, hic!" She said thrusting a shaky fist in the air. " No sir! N-n-n-not me! S-p-p-Spunk is my middle name!" People passing by could hear chattering.

"_Well you should probably stop shaking like the red leaves on an orchid tree." _He said to himself with sweat drops on the side of his head. He shook his head. "Just promise me that you'll be careful. You wouldn't want an old man to be due for an early grave worrying about you would ya?" He said smiling fatherly at her.

She nodded. "I promise." She said seeming to find her voice again. "After all I do have a few tricks up my sleeve if those creeps should try something." She said assuredly.

The merchant closed his eyes and walked the opposite way waving her goodbye. She waved back. The smile that was on her face vanished as quick as it had come and was replaced by fake crying. "Nooooooooooooo! I don't want to fight smelly bandits. Icky, nasty...sweaty." Her hands were clasped together as if praying to a god. "Starkk you big lumax! Always having to make trouble for me!" 

* * *

Yulgar Inn was noisy as usual. Laughter and the sound of cups slamming against tables could be heard. People were either playing cards or conducting business of some sort. Over on the right side of the tavern a group of bandits could be seen huddled together talking quietly amongst themselves. They mainly kept to their own and no one dared or cared enough to bother them. Occasionally one of the servers would come and see if they needed anything but that was it.

"You know your Mesmer friend is going to be pretty pissed at you for ditching her to come here. Not to mention what Thackery is going to have to say about it." The bartender said as he wiped down another glass and stared at the light-skinned man in front of him.

He waved him off. "Well, if you would have heard what old man Logan needed me to do then you would be doing the same thing Sig."

Sig laughed. "How does a guy like you become an assassin and work directly under the Seraph and the Queen? I'm surprised they haven't kicked your ass to the curb yet.

Starrk smirked. "Meh, this crap about fighting dragons and what not is way too troublesome. I like it simple. If it's the occasional knucklehead or Skritt then I can deal. Not some huge city destroying monsters." He said lazily as he took another sip from his iced cherry ale. Starrk had short dreads that reached down to the side of his cheeks. Even though he was inebriated people could tell that those purple eyes had been hardened by battle. He wore a full set of **Infiltrator Armor.** It was black in color with yellow and black spaulders on the side. His dark ninja like mask was pulled back and hanged limply down his neck. His Orichalcum Mail that was fastened around his chest had a large black scarf that trailed down to the floor. On his feet were greaves that looked impenetrable to anything but the strongest weapons. On his back in a sheathe was what looked to be a black katana with yellowish energy surrounding it which seemed to be Asuran in design. Clipped to his waists were twin pistols that were his pride and joy, **Azuza **and **Raspira**. Around certain parts of Tyria and the empire he is known as **Vanishing Mist Silvers, ** (_Silvers being his last name)_**. **

"Well, hate to spoil your fun but look who showed up." Sig said motioning towards the entrance with a comical expression. Starkk turned around and paled. There in the doorway fidgeting and slowly walking in was a very timid looking Kasmeer with small red roses on her cheeks. Most of the men noticed and immediately stopped what they were doing to admire her beauty.

She was oblivious to it and scanned the room until she found her friend with his head down and his hood over his head. Her cheeks puffed out. "Starkk! There you are! You're in a lot of trouble mister!" She said as she stomped over.

"_I am silent, like a wallflower while slowly fading into the shadows." _He muttered to himself.

"Wait...was that a haiku?" Sig said deadpanning.

As Kasmeer approached a group of bandits surrounded her. They all had lewd smirks on their faces. She smiled uneasily. "Excuse me." She said politely as she tried to move around them but one of them barred her way. "What's the rush gorgeous? Maybe me and the guys can help you with whatever you're looking for." The bandit's friends began to snigger.

Keeping calm despite her fear she closed her eyes. "I appreciate that but I'll be fine so I implore you, could you please move aside?" The bandit then grabbed her hand and brought her roughly towards his face. His breath smelled foul. His teeth were yellow with an assortment of holes in them. He had a face only a mother could love. "Sorry but I'll have to insist." He said licking his horribly cracked lips.

"Let go of me!" She said with her lip slanted upward in disgust as she tried to pry her hand out of his iron grip. "I'm warning you, you'll be sorry if you don't." This triggered a choir of laughter from the bandits including the one who had her captive.

Over at the bar both Sig and Starkk had steel like expressions on their faces. "Sig here's the gold for the drink plus interest." He said dropping the hefty bag of gold on the counter top.

"Just don't make it too messy Silvers. I don't want to be out of business for a month due to repairs." He stated simply

"Aw come on baby? Don't be like that, we're just tal.." Before he could finish a black elegant throwing knife embedded itself in his hand. He grabbed his own hand and fell to the floor grunting and screaming in pain. "Agggggh! FUCK! Who in the hell!?" He said through blood shot eyes. The bandits turned their attention to the man with dreads walking towards them with a small grin on his face and tossing a throwing knife up and down. The men quickly surrounded him.

"Who the hell are you!?" One of them snarled.

"It's not important." Starkk stated calmly. " I believe the lady said to let her go but if you insist, I'll be more than happy to accommodate you boys." Kasmeer quickly ran over to his side. "You're going to get it, you know that right?" She said with an overly kind tone that made his hair stand on end. "Uh...maybe?" He said laughing uneasily. He focused his attention back on the bandits.

"Sorry asshole, we don't swing that way. So why don't you butt out before you get hurt." Another bandit threatened menacingly.

Starkk chuckled. "Neither do I you tool bag but ya see, if you're not willing to help me out here then that's going to be a problem and it would make this beat down you're going to get horribly one sided."

One of the bandits then lunged at him. "WHAT WAS THAT YOU LITTLE PUNK!?" He said swinging his sword with full force.

"Kasmeer stand aside." She complied as the assassin ducked under the blade and dropped to his hands. Using them as momentum he twirled his body and kicked the bandit's legs from under him with such speed that the impact from hitting his head rendered him unconscious instantly. He flipped himself back onto his feet and got himself ready for more of them.

"You arrogant bastard. Are you looking down on us?! Draw your weapon!" Another one piped up.

"Nah, I only need these to handle you guys." He said making waving motions with his armored hands. Four of them came at him this time. Focusing on the nearest one he grabbed the bandit's arm that was aiming for his heart and spun on his heel connecting a vicious elbow to the face causing him to become disoriented. He then shifted behind him still having a firm grip on his arm and slung him over his shoulder slamming him roughly into the ground causing the floor to break slightly. The next bandit was more prepared. He took his time sizing the Seraph Assassin up until he saw what he believed was an opening. He tried to slash him a few times only for him to dodge each one. Starkk threw two jabs that connected to the unfortunate brigand's face then arching his arms back he sent a double palm strike to his chest sending him back into a couple of bandits with inhuman strength and crashing into a wall.

A bandit with a two handed hammer and another with a spear came charging towards him at an impressive pace. The one with the hammer made a downwards slam only for the dread head to flip side ways. The hammer was stuck in the floor making it difficult for the thug to uproot it. The other bandit made sweeping strikes towards him. One actually connected but there wasn't enough force to penetrate the hard metal that made up his armor. Baiting the bandit to chase him, Starkk made his way back to the other one struggling to get his hammer free. Using the hammer as leverage he back flip kicked him causing him to be launched into the air chin first. The other one looked up in time to see the edge of a foot coming down towards his face sending him crashing into the ground with an explosive thud. The assassin landed and brushed himself off.

On lookers were visibly stunned. "That guy is a fucking beast, did you see those moves?" One of them said.

"Definitely not the movement of some common riff raff. Makes you wonder what kind of training he's received."

"Well judging from that armor he has on and those weapons he's probably been to the arse end of Tyria and from what I heard that's the kind of fighting strength you need to survive out there."

The bandits who were able to move got their injured brethren up and hurried out the door. "This isn't over you scum!" One of them yelled. Starkk exhaled and turned around only to be greeted with a choir of cheers. He blinked a couple of times before a small blush crept up on his face. He rubbed his back sheepishly while grinning toothily. "Aww! Stop it! There's no need for all th-" He was about to say before he felt a sharp pain on his cheek and felt himself being dragged. Kasmeer had a juicy tick mark on her head as she dragged him out the door. Starkk's eyebrows furrowed as sweat formed on the side of his head.

Sig laughed heartedly. "Man, I would kill to be their age again." He said stroking his rather large beard. "Almost makes me want to be quit of bar tending and get back into mercenary work." 

* * *

**Royal Palace, Seraphim Offices**

Yelling filled the halls causing several heads to peek out in curiosity, that and it was probably disturbing them from whatever work they were occupied with.

"You need to take this a little more seriously! A lot of lives are depending on you and the last thing we need is you getting shit faced in a bar!" Logan yelled.

On one side of the room sat Kasmeer with her legs crossed, her arms folded and her eyes closed. Beside her was Queen Jennah, calmly sipping on some herbal green tea.

Starrk sat across the desk from Logan with a bored look on his face and one finger plugged into his ear digging for gods knows what. The Seraph Commander sighed and slapped down a pair of documents causing the light-skinned assassin to eye them seriously. This also prompted Kasmeer to crack one eye open. "These are the reports from our scouts. We got a lead on where those crystals are coming from and who's supplying it to the bandits." He said as Starkk gathered the pile and began looking them over. Kasmeer walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning down to read as well.

"There's suppose to be a meeting down in Bandit Haunt Caverns. I want you to go there and intercept the dealer."

"What about the crystals?" Starkk asked curiously.

"Once he's captured I'll send a detachment of Elementalist to take care of those. Your primary objective is the capture of that man. You're free to take out anyone who gets in your way." Logan then brought out a photo and handed it to Starkk. "He goes by the name of Toran." The commander said. He had a sinister almost inhuman look about it him. His skin had a reddish purple like hew with tiny spikes protruding all around his face. Yellow slit like eyes were set in a cold gaze.

Starkk set the files and photo down. "So you still haven't heard anything about the whereabouts of my older brother?" He asked with a little bit of hope in his voice.

Logan shook his head. "None, where ever he is, he's off the grid. None of my agents have turned up anything."

Starkk frowned slightly at this. "Right, well we see to it that this guy gets apprehended. Thanks anyway though old man."

Logan nodded. "You and Kasmeer just be careful kid. There's no telling what this guy is capable of. We're counting on you."

With that Kasmeer and Starkk left the office and broke off into a run. "How do you think this will go?" Jennah asked walking over and sitting herself on the desk. Logan folded both of his hands and placed them on his chin. "I have no doubt they can complete this assignment. I'm just afraid we're going to find something out that we don't want to know. She looked towards the window with a worried expression. "Please come back safely you two. You're our only hope.

"_Where are you brother?..."_ Starkk said to himself. As Kasmeer and he sped down the long street towards Queensdale. Their destination? The Caverns.

* * *

**I had planned to showcase Kasmeer's abilities this chapter but that can wait until the second one. Well not much else to say, hope you enjoy it and keep a look out for Chapter 2.**

**Jet~**


	3. Chapter 2: Unforseen Consequences 1A

**I apologize in advance for blowing up you guy's alerts. Couple of tiny errors I noticed and I had to repost this. That's the only reason why. Once again, sorry in advance.**

**Chapter 2: Unforseen Consequences 1A**

The duo made it to the entrance of Divinity's Reach. There was a watchman inside one of the watch towers messing with some kind of control panel to unlock the gates. Once the doors were open the two walked out and into the northern part of Queensdale.

"Tetra is searching for Irvine too isn't she?" Kasmeer asked.

Starkk nodded. " Yeah but big sis is in Frostsound Gorge fighting the Frostbrood with the onslaught so I'd imagine that's been preoccupying her time. The young assassin seemed to be having some inner turmoil that caused the human mesmer to frown slightly.

"_Darn it, I always suck at these kind of things. He goes off worrying and I make it even worse." _She said berating herself. _"Well, you're not going to be a mister grumpy pants on my watch!"_ She said puffing out her chest as she walked up beside him. Before he could question her actions she gave him a swift smack on the back causing him to jump.

"What the hell Mira!?" Starkk yelled with a shark like face. She giggled and smiled at him with a pretty set of white teeth which caused him to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm sure your brother is fine. He's a tough guy just like a certain spaghetti head I know so stop worrying so much." She said walking ahead of him with her hands closed together behind her waist. "Besides, you still have me to help you out with the search as well. Didn't you remember what I told you?... I'll always help you, no matter what it is." She turned her head to stare back at him. For a brief moment his mind flashed back to when they were little kids and she stood before him saying that exact same thing. He didn't know why but it was that damn smile of hers and how she turned that always got him. He never could understand why she insisted on helping him so much. Not that he had a problem with it. Secretly it made him feel wonderful. Having a friend that cared for him so much. He cared for her too. Probably more than he should. He snapped himself out of his temporary daydream and beamed at her.

"Yeah, I remember. Thank you Mira. I appreciate it a lot.

"Aww, don't mention it. What are besties for!" She then grabbed his hand. "Let's go! Times a wastin!" She yanked him along as she ran down the pathway full of trees.

"Kasmeer! You're going to yank my friggen arm off!" He protested but his blonde haired friend didn't seem to be listening.

* * *

"You jackasses should have been here sooner!" One of the farm hands yelled.

"The Seraph are doing the best they can sir but this war is having all of us spread too thin to be everywhere at once." The guard said trying to calm the frantic civilian down. This only seemed to make him madder.

"Screw your excuses! These people got fucking butchered and the best you can do is make more excuses to cover your sorry asses!" He bellowed.

"I'm going to have to ask you to calm down, you're only making this situation worse." Another guard told him with a stern look.

"Unbelievable!" The frustrated man said throwing his arms up and walking back into his house where his wife and 3 kids stood watching the exchange. A titanic sized troll had wandered onto the farm and slaughtered the majority of the hands working on it. By the time the Seraph managed to get a unit dispatched it was far too late. It was a macabre scene. Linen cloth could be seen draped over the corpses.

* * *

Starkk and Kasmeer reached the farm prompting the blonde to gasp and cup a hand over her mouth while the assassin only stared in bewilderment.

"Looks like a demon came and tore this place apart." Starkk said in a low voice.

"This is horrible, what could have done this?"Kasmeer said sadly. The residents of the farm and Seraph Guard turned to see the two newcomers who showed up. This triggered a couple of hushed whispers.

"I'll be damned. It's the legendary Vanishing Mist and Lady Kasmeer the Elegant. One of the farmhands said in awe.

"If they're here they can undoubtedly stop that behemoth if it comes back!"

A couple of the guards trotted over to greet the two heroes. "Lady Meade, Lord Silvers it's an honor to see you." One of the guards spoke.

Starkk glared at him. "Drop the lord please. I don't like honorifics. What the hell is going on? What did this?" He said in dead seriousness.

The guard that addressed him got flustered for a second but quickly corrected himself. "Oh, right! Well we were out on patrol when we got word from a courier that this farm was under siege by a Forest Troll. By the time we got here it was too late. It's bad enough that the children had to witness this violence but for us not to make it in time..." He said gritting his teeth angrily. The two could tell that they were beating themselves up over not being able to save anyone.

"It's alright. We know you guys are doing the best you can." Kasmeer said trying to lift their broken spirits up. Starkk agreed as well. He knew they couldn't be at several places at once. Dwayna knows he's tried to be at times and how horribly that failed.

A light-bulb went off in the sorceress's head."Hey Starkk? That dealer isn't to arrive until 6:00 pm tomorrow right?" Kasmeer said turning to him.

"Correct?..." He said eyeing his best friend in puzzlement.

"Why don't we stay here for tonight so we can catch that troll if it decides to come back?" She said slapping a hand on her arm and thrusting it in a flexing like motion.

He pondered for a second before looking at everyone. "I suppose that wouldn't be a problem. I don't want anymore needless deaths like this so it's better that we kill this thing now before it poses a bigger problem. Kasmeer along with the rest of the farm hands cheered while a couple of the guards came and thanked him.

"Thank you milord." We can stay as well and help fortify you against the beast should it return."

Starkk smiled. "You called me lord again but not a problem. The more people we have here the better."

An older woman who looked to be in her mid 40s approached. She had a gentle aura about her, almost mystic. "Why don't you two come stay with our family? We have plenty of room and we would love some guests." She came over and took Kasmeer's hands in hers prompting her to blush slightly and chuckle sheepishly.

"Oh, no ma'am we couldn't impose on you like that."This made the other woman laugh. "Such a polite young lady. It really won't be any trouble at all. I'm Veronica by the way. This is my husband Garoth and my daughter Emily." The man introduced himself to her and shook her hand before walking over to Starkk. The little girl poked her head out from behind her mother's legs obviously still shaken from the event . "Oh, stop it. She won't hurt you." The mother said trying to coax the little girl. She had nice brown hair like her mother that was tied up in a ponytail. Her unsure curious green eyes borrowed into the mesmer as if trying to search for something. She had on a purple dress that matched her purple sandals. She was a pretty little thing. Kasmeer smiled warmly at her and crouched down to her knees to meet the little girl at eye level.

"Hey there cutie, I'm Kasmeer. I like your dress." She complimented. This caused the little girl to come out from under her mother and approach her slowly. "T-Thanks." She said timidly. The blonde seemed like she was humming a bit as she patted the little girl on her head. " You don't have to worry about anything. My friend and me are here now and we'll make that big scary monster go away for good so turn that frown upside down!"

Emily stared at her for the longest time before her mouth opened in a wide smile. "KAY!" She said as she ran up and hugged the older girl. She giggled and picked the tiny child up. Everyone else smiled at them. Despite what happened, the two managed to get rid of their gloomy states.

"Mr. Silvers! I heard a lot about you. You care to entertain an old man about your travels?" Garoth said shaking his hand.

Sure that won't be an issue as long as you have good alcohol." Starkk said returning the man's gesture.

"Hahahaha! Don't worry we have plenty of it. Come, let's get you guys situated." With that the family of 3 and the two heroes made their way inside the rather large house.

* * *

**Hill's Home**

"Hahahahaha! This kid is a riot!" A drunk Garoth exclaimed with an arm slung over the equally drunk man beside him. Veronica hadn't had supper out for more than 10 minutes and the two men were already intoxicated and being buffoons. The two females were forced to listen to through the drunk debacle. None of them hardly touched their food.

"It wash like I waz tellin old moldy butt...how he aspects me to fite dem overgrown gizzards? Fuck out here. You ever seen the size of one of dem things? Things would cook my scrawny arse and make my skin even darker than it already is. Hell won't be Vanishing Mist anymore, more like Vanished Ashes." This caused the older man to laugh even harder as he listened to the younger adult's gibberish. The two woman stared at them flatly clearly not amused. Luckily, Emily wasn't at the table since she finished eating before the adults and was in another room playing.

Kasmeer sighed. "I see your husband gets like this too huh?" The older woman shook her head. "Yeah but he finds anything funny when he gulps a couple of them down." The two were silent for a second before stifling laughs. Veronica rested her head on a hand and smiled impishly at the mesmer which prompted her to raise her eyebrow in confusion.

"Something wrong Mrs. Hills?" Kasmeer questioned.

"No, not at all but tell me something? How long have you and Starkk been dating?" This was a poor choice of words. Starkk spit his ale out as he spluttered and struggled to regain his breath. Kasmeer's face turned beet red as she started to move her hands frantically in front of Veronica and saying a bunch of words at such a speed that the older woman couldn't quite decipher any of it.

"Like hell I'd date this crybaby bed wetter!" Starkk said with a thin line of rose on his nose.

*KERPOWWW!*

The assassin looked over at Kasmeer only to receive a bowl to the face causing it to shatter. As the pieces dropped to the floor he had swirls for eyes and fell with a loud thud.

Garoth was practically out of breath from laughing so hard.

"Oh my..." Was Veronica's only reply. Kasmeer's face was still beat red as she held a fist up with a small tick mark on it, clearly pissed over her best friend's statement.

"As if I'd date an ale-gobbling pint sized runt who's so tiny that he can only be seen through a magnifying glass! You big dumb jerk!" With a swift motion of her hand she repaired the shattered bowl and it was back to where it was originally placed at. "I'm going to go bathe." She said angrily as she stormed off.

"It's right down the hall deary!" Veronica yelled after her.

Garoth leaned down. A drunken smile on his face. "Golly gawsh Starkk! Such a ladieeeeeeeees mannn!"

"Dear do stop teasing him." His wife scolded.

Garoth shrugged. "Aww but babe it's funny watching the two youngsters have a lover's spat." She shook her head.

Emily walked over and poked him then laughed with childlike glee. "Haha! Mommy! Big brother Starkk's eyes are funny!"

"_O-Oh... n-no thank you. I had all my shots today so I don't need to see the dwarf man."_ The assassin said clearly out of it.

* * *

**Outside Bath House**

Everything managed to settle down inside the house. Shortly after Kasmeer entered the bath she was joined by the other two females.**  
**

"So how long have you two known each other?" Veronica asked curiously.

"Ever since we were kids." Kasmeer replied as she ran her hands through the younger girl's soapy hair which the latter seemed to enjoy immensely. " He has two other siblings as well but they lost their mother and father so I, my other best friend Marjory and those two are all he has left."

"I see." The auburn haired woman said staring at the water. "A boy like him is a puzzle. Keeps his emotions bottled up to keep others from seeing his pain . Having the occupation he has I could imagine he doesn't allow it to get in the way."

Kasmeer smirked dryly. "Sometimes I don't know what to say to him. It makes me feel useless."

"Kassy? Is big brother sad a lot?" The little girl asked inquisitively.

The mesmer shook her head. "No but I think he just has trouble getting close to people. It may not seem like it but he does care about the people he meets and just doesn't want to keep going through the same pain of losing all of them."

"I'm going to get strong like big sis and big brother so he doesn't have to worry anymore." Emily exclaimed proudly. This made both woman chuckle. "I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear that." Over on the other side Veronica kept staring at Kasmeer. The young mesmer reminded her of herself so much in her youth. It made her think about herself and Garoth and how she dealt with his foolishness all these years. She closed her eyes and grinned.

"Kasmeer, take care of him." She stated simply.

This caused her to blush again. "Who'd want to take care of that unreliable, drunkard idiot? I couldn't help that knobhead even if I tried."

Veronica laughed. "But he's your idiot right?"

The mesmer's words got caught in the back of her throat. "Yes..." She said defeated as she sunk nose level into the bath.

* * *

_"Damn it Irvine!_ _You going off and getting yourself killed is not going to make this right!"_ A 17yr old Starkk screamed at his foster brother.

"_I don't expect you to understand..." _The massive and tall dark skinned bald headed Norn said.

"_WHATS TO UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T THINK I WANT TO GO AND KILL THIS PISS DRAGON !? THEY WERE MY MOM AND DAD TOO! DON'T TEAR THIS FAMI LY APART MORE THAN IT ALREADY IS!"_

Irvine's face contorted into an angry glower. _"YOU"RE BEING CHILDISH STARKK! YOU'RE NOT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE!"_

Starkk snapped his head to his older sister Tetra. "_Tetra for the love of Grenth please talk some sense into your thick skulled brother, please!" _ She only turned her head away causing the young teen to smack his teeth in disgust. He bolted out of the house.

Irvine sighed. _"Tetra I'm sorry, please look after him while I'm gone." She nodded and walked up and hugged her brother._

"_You be careful you hear? Don't take any unnecessary risks. Use your head. I mean it Irvine. I won't forgive you if you die out there."_ She said seriously.

The ranger smiled. _"Can do. Well I got to go. I love you._"

"_I love you too you knuckledragger."_ Tetra said bidding her brother farewell. As Irvine set off. His thoughts wandered back to his little brother. _"I'm sorry to do this to you little bro but this has to be done. Grow strong and into a wonderful man. I love you."_ He said to himself as he set off with Falcon Company to the Crystal Desert.

* * *

"_So you're leaving me too huh?"_ The dread-head said miserably.

"_Stop it." _Was her only reply. Her eyes were hidden behind the hair that covered her forehead. The rest was tied up into a small bun on each side of her head with black strands hanging down from the both of them. She had enlisted with the Seraph's Elementalist Corp and could now be seen in what looked to be an exotic light purple crystal like armored dress.

"_If you and that idiot want to go off and get yourselves killed then be my guest. I don't give a damn anymore!"_ He felt his head turn violently towards the right as she delivered a nasty slap to his face. She picked him up by the shirt.

"_How long are you going to keep fucking whining?! You're not a little brat anymore Starkk. Grow up! If we don't do something about these dragons then Tyria is going to be a barren wasteland! Is that what you want!?"_ She thundered. He only stared at his sister in shock as he put a hand on his stinging cheek. She brought him forward and kissed him on the forehead before hugging him tightly. _" I want you to listen to me. I want you take care of yourself while I'm gone, do you hear me? Make sure you do hygiene and eat healthy. By the time I get back I want you to have grown into a strong man."_ The boy was silent. She let go of him only for him to drop to his knees. She had a pained expression on her face as she turned away and walked off. He looked up in time to see her wiping her face. He could tell she was crying. She boarded the ship. Over on one of the windows He could see her pressing her hand against it. He mirrored her gesture. It was on that day that the boy had decided to get stronger so that he could support both his brother and sister in the fight against the dragons.

* * *

A man who was shadowed stood before him. _ "You don't look like much boy. Get out of here while you can. Someone of your caliber won't be able to handle this kind of training."_

Starkk stood his ground. _"I can handle it! So please, take me as your apprentice!"_

The man sighed. _"Very well then but I won't tolerate whining or slack so you better be prepared._" The boy cheered but his face turned serious shortly after. This was going to be a long road ahead of him.

* * *

The assassin's eyes shot open as he put a hand over one eye as if in pain. "Damn it!" He growled. "That same painful dream again." He must have dosed off while he sat up on the rooftop. It was night time with a full moon being out. He could see a couple of farm hands tending to some animals. The guards from earlier were posted at points around the farm. He had gotten into the bath after the ladies. That and he wanted to avoid his friend's wrath for the time being. He was in a white shirt, black pants and some white shoes as he leaned back against the building with both hands behind his head. A door that lead up to the roofs swung open. Garoth came out. A peaceful expression on his face.

"There you are my boy. You don't mind if I join you do you?" He asked.

"Not at all, make yourself comfortable. Not like this is my crib anyway." The man chuckled and sat beside him.

"Should you really be wearing those clothes? What if the troll comes back?" He questioned. He then noticed that the assassin was holding a katana that looked asuran in origin. The hilt rested gently on his shoulder.

"Naw, I only need this." He said showing the man the weapon.

Garoth went wide eyed. " Don't tell me... is this one of the sacred Legendary Artifacts?" He said clearly in awe at the glowing weapon in front of him.

Starkk nodded. " You know about them? Indeed. It's called** Amaterasu, **(meaning Heavenly Illumination). This katana and I have been through thick and thin. You can think of it as an extension of myself." The light-skinned man said proudly.

"How did you obtain such an artifact? I heard stories that these artifacts have killed lesser men who have tried to wield them."

"Well I can tell you this much. That part about the artifacts killing people is true. It just varies. Take Amaterasu for instance. If you're not compatible with it then it will kill you outright. That's why it's dangerous for just anyone to try to pick one up should they find it." Starkk explained. "As for the rest, it's personal and I don't like bringing up painful memories."

"What about Miss Kasmeer? Is that weird weapon she has a Legendary as well?" Garoth said prodding further.

He shook his head. "No, while Mirage is of special design , it isn't one. Magic users and artifact users differ greatly when it comes to ability. Some magic users don't even bother to try to search for them let alone wield them since most of their abilities depending on the person are superior to an artifact. As for Kasmeer, she mostly uses her staff as a focus to channel her abilities. I'm going to be frank, Amaterasu pales in comparison to her magical abilities. I've seen them first hand. Most things that tried to challenge her are either dead or no longer able to harm or trouble others."

Garoth laughed. "You two brats are a couple of little monsters huh? Well I understand about not wanting to bring up your past but it wouldn't kill you to open up to people some time kiddo." He said fatherly.

Starkk turned his head away. Finding some grass below them nice to look at. "Maybe..." Garoth watched the 20yr old for a moment before speaking.

"Son let me ask you something. If something were to happen to Veronica and me could I trust you and your friend enough to take care of Emily?" This caused the assassin to snap his head around swiftly with his mouth agape and bug eyed.

"Has the alcohol finally made you go blood simp!? The heck are you saying all of a sudden old man!?"

Garoth snorted loudly has he bellowed with laughter. "Haha! It's nothing. Just a senile old man trying to strike up conversation. Ignore my nonsense. I'm going to head off to bed but listen, I hope during your travels you find your older brother. I really do kid. I'm rooting for ya!"

Starkk nodded and smiled. "Thanks and night Mr. Hill." Once the door shut. He focused his attention to the woods. Something was causing them to rustle. It wasn't the wind since the current wasn't that strong. His eyes narrowed. Something was about to happen.

* * *

A couple of guards were huddled over a fire talking among themselves. "Man that herder was really cute." A bald headed guard said swooning.

"You think I'd have a shot with her?" Another one said causing the rest of his colleagues to make fun of him. "Oh please. I bet she'd rather give mouth to mouth to a Quaggan rather than be with your ugly mug. Their moment was cut short when they heard something growling from behind the woods. All of them picked their weapons up and ran over to the area where the noise was coming from, huddled in a circular formation.

"Keep it loose and don't bunch up. We don't want this thing getting the jump on us." One man commanded who seemed to be the leader of the group. The originator of the noise finally came stomping out of the woods, knocking down the trees and making long booming strides. The troll was massive. There weren't any parts of it's body that muscles weren't bulging out of. Piercing glowing yellow eyes stared at the humans below it ominously. Rows of sharp teeth open and closed while tan colored thick saliva dropped from them.

"Oh fuck!" One of the guards gulped, shaking horribly. The monster let out a savage roar as it swung a giant fist catching three of them with the sweeping blow and sending their broken bodies in different directions. Another set of guards with bows let off arrows that struck the creature in the arm. It let out a pained growl as it snatched the arrows messily out of it's enlarged limb with a sickening squelching noise. It got into a crouching position. It was going to charge. With frightening speed it took off shoulder positioned with the intent to smash anything in the way. Most of the quicker men got out of the way in time but a Seraph Defender wasn't so lucky. They were all surprised for a moment as it seemed he was holding his ground against the creature's bulk with that shield of his. Alas, he couldn't match the strength of the creature. It floored him moments later and picked him up bisecting him and eating his upper half.

* * *

The assassin saw the whole thing from the distance and was already off into a sprint. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He cursed under his breath. "Thing is freaking huge!" Screams constantly filled the air as the troll savaged farm hands and guards a like. It had turned it's attention to a woman who had tripped while trying to flee from it. She had a look of abstract terror as the creature bore down for the kill. As it brought it's claw down something fast moved in to intercept it. Starkk got to the troll in time to block it's gargantuan hand with Amaterasu . He was clenching his teeth hard as he struggled under the creature's massive bulk. 'MOVE NOW!" He yelled at the woman. She didn't seem to comply as she stared blankly at him. The assassin's face changed to frantic fury. "IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE GET MOVING NOW DAMN IT! YOU"RE IN THE WAY!" He boomed. This seemed to wake her up as she scrambled and ran into the opposite direction. **"NOW SHIMMER! AMATERAS..."** Before he could activate his artifact's trump card mode the creature punched him with seismic pressure causing the blade to dig into his chest and sending him flying. The punch had not only caused the sword to cut into him which was probably going to leave a nasty scar but broke four of his ribs. He slammed violently into one tree breaking it and crashed into another before he slumped down in a daze. He started to convulse blood as it poured out of his mouth.

It took a moment for his vision to focus again. The creature was heading towards the Hill's Home. It probably thought that's where the biggest concentration of meat was. His eyes had a cold emotionless gate to them. "No you don't you! I'll kill your giant ass before you even get there." The dread-head rogue pointed his blade out in front of him. Slowly reaching and putting his hand at the bottom most part of his hilt he raised his weapon up in a stabbing motion. His irises went from purple to a glowing yellow color. He inhaled before a massive amount of yellow arcane energy exploded and surged skywards. **"SHIMMER!...AMATERASU!" ** What came out of the light was a sight to behold. The assassin now sported a helm that had metal wing like objects on the side. The face plate was a yellow T-shaped see through visor. His shoulder armor looked the same as the spaulders from his Infiltrator Armor except with more plating on them. Instead of the Orichalcum covering his chest, it covered his entire body with glowing slits of yellow light on them. With a blur of speed he was off.

* * *

"Kasmeer please take Veronica and Emily and run!. Protect them with your life!"

"STOP TALKING NONSENSE AND LET KASMEER HELP YOU! YOU"RE NOT GOING TO LEAVE THIS LITTLE GIRL FATHERLESS! Veronica protested.

" DON"T ARGUE WITH ME JUST GO!" The husband screamed. The creature had smashed through the house while they were sleeping. Garoth only had time to grab his sword but he knew anything he did would be useless against this giant. Kasmeer on the other hand knew she was better equipped to handle the creature but she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if something were to happen to the other two while she went all out on the beast. The man lunged at the horrid beast and tried to get it with an overhead strike but the sword bounced off the creature's thick skin. It grabbed him with a bone crushing grip. His left arm was sticking out from an opening in the creatures fingers. It put pressure on it until it snapped it off causing it to fall on the floor and triggering a blood curdling scream from Garoth.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A teary eyed Veronica screamed.

"DADDY!" The little girl said breaking down as well.

"ARGGGH! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE KASMEER! TAKE THEM AND GO!" Garoth yelled desperately. The mesmer turned her head away with her eyes closed hard as tears threatened to spill from them. "Come on!" She said sharply as she grabbed the both of them and bolted down the hallway. The man managed to crack one last smile as he caught a glimpse of his wife and daughter thrusting their hands out as if trying to catch him. The creature consumed him whole.

* * *

As they were running part of the roof began to crumble before it caved in completely, intending to crush the three. Veronica was the only one to see it in time and pushed the other two girls out of the way. The other two slowly got themselves up only to gasp. Veronica's legs were under the debris, clearly crushed as the blood oozed out from under it. She smiled weakly at them.

"MOMMY!" Emily yelled as she got out of Kasmeer's arms and ran over to her mother. The blue eyed woman began to shake as she saw the blood seeping from under her. "I-I-I'm going to get you out of there! Just hang on!" She said as she begun trying to lift the rubble up with her telekinesis.

"Kasmeer stop! It's too late. That creature will be here any minute. Please take my daughter far away from here!" The auburn head woman said in a strained voice. The little girl hugged her mom. "Mommy let big sister help you!"

"No! NO! I don't want your death on my conscious, please just let me do this!" She said as she tried to lift the rubble up again. The creature's thunderous foot steps were getting closer.

"KASMEER FOR THE LAST TIME! IT"S TOO LATE, I"M BEGGING YOU PLEASE JUST GO!" The mother said with tears falling down her face. The younger woman's lips started to quiver as her face fell. Veronica cupped her daughter's face in her hands. "Mommy loves you so much! I want you to live, live! There's so much more I want to tell you I..." She broke down as she hugged her daughter tightly. Emily didn't say anything but only laid in her mother's arms wide eyed with giant quarter sized tears falling down her cheeks. "Kasmeer we're out of time, you have to get moving!" Kasmeer scooped a reluctant Emily in her arms. With one last broken hearted look she took off with tears trailing out of the corner of her eyes as she ran.

"MOMMY! MOMMMMMMYYYYY!" The little girl screamed.

"EMILY!" Veronica yelled back. She cupped both of her hands over her mouth as she cried silently to herself. It was the last time she was going to see her daughter and the woman who she grew attached to in that short amount of time. She even wanted more time to try to get rid of some of the darkness that was plaguing the young Seraph Assassin but she wouldn't be able to do that either. The creature now hovered over her. Her last thoughts were of her husband and the time they spent together as the troll picked her up. Everything went black shortly afterwards.

* * *

The creature finished it's meal and went back out into the clearing. Everyone was struck with cold fear. The beast face twisted in what looked to be a grin. It knew it's prey in front of it were helpless. Something caught in the corner of it's eye. It was coming in extremely fast and looked to be spinning like some sort of flying wheel. The object completely sliced through the creatures arm causing it to drop to the ground with a thud and causing the creature to howl in pain while clutching it's missing limb.

Starkk landed with a skidding halt. Blade in hand and sheathed in light. "I'm going to kill you! YOU DAMNED MONSTER!" The creature threw a punch but the rogue seemed to vanish in thin air before the punch could make contact and instead hit the ground making cracks in it. He ran up the beast, digging his sword in it as he ran up until he reached it's face. He then made an arcing slice, taking out one of it's eyes before launching himself off it. _"Damn it all! This always happens! Every time I get close to people! They get taken away from me! I was too damn careless!_" He said harshly criticizing himself while he seemed to float in mid air. _"Even if it destroys this body of mine I'm going to make sure this bastard of a beast suffers for every life it took!" _Starkk said with a venomous glare.

* * *

"Lady Meade are you alright!" The guards said as they saw an approaching Kasmeer holding a child who was a sobbing wreck. Her face was hidden in her hair.

"Take the girl and protect her like your lives depend on it. I'm going to go help my friend." The mesmer said in a cold voice that caused the guards to flinch. Their nervousness increased ten fold when they got a good look at her face. No longer were here eyes those gentle blue orbs that were friendly to any who approached her. They were replaced by a harsh flaring purple color that seemed to have lightning dancing around them. Out of thin air her staff materialized as an aura formed around her. What started off as a walk turned into a sprint as she twirled her staff repeatedly and summoned what looked to be purple clones of herself. She took off into the direction where Starkk was fighting.

"Holy shit... was that really Lady Kasmeer? I've never seen her like that before." The guard said in astonishment.

"I don't know what you've been hearing but you obviously haven't heard all of it. It is true that she's probably one of the most gentle and kind souls you'll meet but her anger... her anger is a very terrible thing to be on the wrong side of. Many of the empire's enemies have meet their deaths by her hands simply because they pushed her too far." Another one spoke up.

"How the heck does a common grunt like you know all of this?" A guy in a blue shirt said.

"Have you been living under a rock? It's common knowledge what these two are capable of. They're practically legends." The guard scoffed at him.

* * *

Kasmeer commanded two of her clones to approach the beast. One wielded a greatsword the other a strange looking rifle. The creature noticed it and engaged them. The first clone spun like a whirlwind as it barreled towards the creature only for it to swat it out the way. The sorceress simply smirked. The clone exploded causing the troll to wrench it's remaining arm back in pain. It started convulse a strange liquid as it grabbed it's head in pain. It was under a confusion curse. It began swinging wildly harming itself in the process. She then cocked her arm back preparing to attack the creature with on of her gravity spells. With a thrust of her palm she pushed the troll at high speed through the woods. It made a path as it kept crashing through each of them. She walked off.

Starkk noticed his partner walking up. "Didn't think this thing would make you use your trump card." She said. He laughed softly. " I didn't think I'd see this side of you so soon."

"He won't stay down for long." She said eyeing the woods. I'm ready when you are."

"Hn, been awhile since we used that combination attack as well." Their conversation was cut short. The creature came running out of the path way. Shaking with rage it let out an echoing roar that shook the area. It attacked the both of them. The two ran to opposite sides. Starkk sheathed his sword and pulled out his pistols taking shots at the creature. He was living a gray like fog behind him. Kasmeer followed suit hurling purple like thorns at the creature while her clones distracted and attacked it. Each time it tried punch or swing it's cumbersome legs at one of them it would miss. It was getting tired. The assassin's speed increased even further as he begun circling the creature. The fog was growing thicker. He reached such a speed that he was leaving after images behind him. The Forest Troll didn't know what to attack anymore as it tried to follow the images in vain. The Seraph Assassin was right in front of him. The troll didn't even see him move. With a mighty thrust of his legs Starkk launched himself up in an uppercut like motion splitting the creatures face open. "Kasmeer! NOW!" He said in mid air. The mesmer twirled on the ground like a coil before launching herself in the air like a rocket still spinning until she was high above the trees below her. To onlookers she was serene to look at. The way she moved. True to her epithet. Her staff was above her hand as a gargantuan symbol formed in the clouds.

"Those two are amazing. Such team work!" The crowd said in fascination

"No, there is a reason why they're known throughout Tyria and are known as the empire's best. It's only to be expected that they're capable of this much."

Once again Kasmeer's eyes lit a flaring purple color as the symbol in the air intensified. Thrusting Mirage towards the troll she chanted her spell. **"(EXTREME MAGIC! PSICONIC STORM!)" ** A plethora of purple orbs, too many in number to count came out of the sky and homed in on the unfortunate troll. Each slammed into the beast with monstrous force causing it to let out an unnerving roar. It's eyes had rolled to the back of it's head once the spell ended it's vicious assault. Starkk lept from a tree he was perched on. "Eliminate..." He said emotionlessly as he began to spiral downwards through the creature head first until he reached the bottom. The monster was reduced to nothing but ashes. The duo then stood beside each other back to back as Kasmeer's eyes returned to normal and Starkk's trump card mode brought him back to his original state. The wind blew their hair as they thought in peaceful silence of what just transpired.

"Kassy! Big brother!" Emily said running up to the two. They both crouched down to hug her as she cried.

"I'm so sorry Emily. Big sister couldn't save your parents in time!" She said as she had begun to cry as well and holding the little girl tighter. Starkk had an unreadable expression on his face. "Grkk!" He said clutching his chest and spitting up blood. Both of the girls looked at him in terror.

"You're injured!" Kasmeer said crouching down and wrapping her arms around him. He smiled and looked at her through one eye.

"I'm okay , just a couple of broken ribs. What about you Mira? Are you alright?" He said putting a hand on her cheek causing her to close her eyes at his touch and rest her head in his hand. " I'm fine, just tired. I can reverse the damage the troll has done to you so don't worry." He frowned miserably. He didn't care about the physical pain but the mental pain of losing the old man and Mrs. Veronica. That couldn't be healed. The other two noticed this and matched his gloomy state. Everyone who was still alive and present tried to come up and congratulate them but stopped there. They didn't want to be thanked. They didn't feel like heroes. It had started to rain.

* * *

**Don't want to make this closing statement too long so a couple of things I want to explain regarding both of their abilities. No Starkk's abilities weren't influenced by Bleach so no I don't want to hear any flames about him being like Ichigo.** ** Both Starkk and Kasmeer have a total of 10 Trump Card abilities and Extreme Magic abilities respectively. Those that were displayed in the chapter were only the weakest ones. Down below is an explanation of how they work.**

**Amaterasu Trump Card Ability Number 1**

**Vanishing Blitz: Allows the user to move at inhuman speeds while also entering a hyper speed state of combat granting them the ability to land hits on a target with extreme precision. The user also leaves afterimages and a smokescreen trail behind them causing confusion and disorientation to their opponents.**

**Kasmeer Extreme Magic Ability Number 1**

**Psiconic Storm: The user shoots a volley of psiconic energy balls that home in on a target's life essence and implodes inside them causing internal damage.**

**Probably in later chapters I'll give a through explanation on Extreme Magic abilities and Artifacts. Sorry for the long ending note and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Stay tuned for 3.**

**Jet~**


	4. Chapter 3: Unforseen Consequences 1B

**Chapter 3: Unforseen Consequences 1B, The Conclusion.**

**Onslaught Flaghship Leviathan: Frostsound Ramparts**

Everyone was in high spirits over their victory over the Frostbrood who were plaguing the southern reaches of the coastline. The real star of the battle however was none other than the elementalist Tetra, (or rather by her alias **Full-Heat Tetra**). She was able to drive away the Elder Dragon Jormag which was an enormous feat in itself but also caused the remaining Frostbrood to flee as well. All of Crimson Company raised their glasses in a toast to their General's success.

"Our triumph today would have been for naught, if not for the heroic actions of our General!" One man said.

"Indeed. Once Jormag fell it's foul brethren ran along with it!" A woman piped up.

"TO GENERAL TETRA AND HER VICTORY OVER THE FROSTBROOD! HOOAH!" One man exclaimed to the top of his lungs.

"HOOAH!" Everyone present shouted fervently as cups clanged together like a crescendo. At the end of the table stood a very vibrant Tetra. The whole war in the norn's homeland turned out way better than she anticipated. They decimated the Frost Aspect's legion down to a few stragglers. No one expected the young elementalist to actually hold her own against the Aspect. They were even further amazed at how much damage she caused the great dragon. When she was about to deliver the finishing blow the Elder Dragon took off to the far North. No doubt to lick it's wounds. With how much damage she did and how many of it's own it lost it would be awhile before he resurfaced and they would be ready for him when he did.

She had a hand on her hip as she held her cup in the other. "Thank you but I can't take the credit for all of this. It's you brave men and woman who made all of this possible. I couldn't have did this alone. I'm thankful for all your hard-work and that we all came out of this alive. It goes to show those dragons that us Tyrians can't be fucked with! AM I RIGHT!?" She said thrusting her cup in the air. She was met equally by a quaking sound of agreements from her soldiers.

A door swung open and in came a woman of Indian decent. She had short black hair with a strand hanging out in front of her forehead. A red jewel rested in the center of it. She wore an azure crystalline battle dress similar to the younger general's violet one. Two emerald green giant sized daggers were clipped to her back. Everyone including the purple eyed woman immediately stopped with they were doing and snapped to attention, saluting.

"GRAND COMMANDER ON DECK!" Tetra hollered.

The woman gave a curt nod as her golden eyes focused on her second in command. "At ease men. General can I have a word with you for a second?"

"Certainly commander." She said.

* * *

The two woman were outside the large ship. Both of them were resting on the rails. "Is there something you needed to talk with me about commander?" Tetra asked.

"Tetra... I thought I told you not to be so formal with me when we're alone like this?" The commander scolded softly.

"Forgive me Master Freya."

"Master huh? Haven't heard that one in a long time. You really did good out there kid. I'm really proud of you. See? All that hellish training I made you go through paid off didn't it?" She said slyly.

Tetra grimaced. "Well it would be dreadfully hard for it not to stick, after all it was practically beaten into me." This caused Freya to laugh which in turn made her younger subordinate laugh as well. They both had content smiles on their faces as the wind from the moving ship blew their hair. As they stared off into the horizon the snow that was falling had a glittering effect giving the view a winter wonderland kind of vibe.

"So what do you have planned once you get back to the Empire?" The Grand Commander asked her protege.

Tetra rested both of her hands on her cheeks and grinned widely. "Well I told you about both of my brothers right? The youngest became some kind of fancy pants big shot back home. Thought I'd drop by and see how he was doing."

"I see." Freya said smiling. "I'm sure he's going to be thrilled to see you."

Tetra looked up still beaming. _"I can't wait to see you little brother. There's so much I want to tell you when I get back!" _She giggled to herself. _" Better watch out Irvine. Pretty soon tiny toes will make you eat his dust."_

* * *

**Sapphire Hills: Foryoda Formation**

Two men were hidden behind a couple of large boulders as three Branded Charr and two Branded Devourers searched for them. One man had on a tan translucent toxic gas mask that seemed to have a computerized aiming reticule on the left side of it. He wore clockwork like power armor that was also tan and sported camo all over it. The other man had on a cobalt version of his power armor. In the bigger man's hands was the Artifact known as **Predator. **The weapon was quite big for a sniper rifle and looked as if it were impossible for anyone of ordinary strength to wield. It seemed to be charr in design as red like liquid which looked like lava could be seen through the barrel. A large prismatic scope sat on the top of it. Cocking the slide back and holding his breath he took aim. Holding the gun steady he pressed the trigger. A thin tracer like ray of orange came out of the firing chamber and nailed the bigger branded abominations, boring sizable holes in their heads before scattering their brain matter. The second shot was off before their companions could react. The ray this time split into two beams of light shredding the mutant's pets apart. The man stood up from his crouching position as his helmet disengaged and clasped back into the neck folds of his armor revealing a stern looking Irvine. His white irises scanned the area to make sure nothing else other than his spotter and himself were alive.

"Clear!" His deep voice spoke as he emptied the cartridge and slammed another one in, cocking the rifle back.

"Man... no matter how many times I see you fire that thing off it always leaves me dazzled." The spotter said in amazement as his helmet did the same. He had a gruff looking face with green hair wrapped in a pony tail.

Irvine wiped the sweat off his brow. " Indeed. Don't know what I'd do without this rifle." The gun then collapsed back into a compact shape before he stuffed it gently into his backpack. He pressed himself against one of the rocks before sitting himself down. Clearly tired. His partner followed suit.

"It doesn't make a dang lick of sense why we haven't found that Elder Dragon yet." His partner said pondering.

"I agree. Falcon Company has searched this place up and down, even the caverns and still haven't found this thing. Intel said that he pretty much blots out the sun so I can't fathom why something like it would be hard to miss." The norn said sighing.

"Irvine how many months has it been since we been out here?" The spotter asked.

"I lost count after awhile Torma."

The southern accented spotter cracked the back of his neck before rubbing it. He was in a grouchy mood. "Well all this covert op bullshit we're doing is getting us no whar. Mine as well paint a bullseye on our eads and announce to the damn thing that we're here so we can stop all this here slinkin around like a bunch of kaiyotes", (him basically saying coyotes but in his own way).

Irvine nodded as he lit a cigar. " I hear ya Torms but Captain Marshawn was pretty clear that he wants this place turned upside down until we find it so we aren't leaving anytime soon."

He shook his head." Ah already know that stubborn old coot won't stop until he finds it. Anyway, I reckon you got some kinfolk back at home watin on ya's to come back?" He asked. This got a grin out of the bigger man.

"Yeah, an older sister and baby brother. My sister and I have been able to keep tabs on each other so I've been getting information from her on how he's been doing."

"How in tarnations did tha both of ya manage that?" He asked baffled.

Irvine chuckled. "We have our ways." He looked off into the distance. _"Still can't believe little snot nosed Starkk actually turned into a badass while I was away. I'm really proud of you. You exceeded my expectations. I'm sure you're going to keep doing great things. "I'll try to hurry home as quick as I can."_

* * *

**Sunnyside Inn**

Morning time had hit the now quiet farm. Yesterday's event had kept most of the residents up, even the aftermath. Some were still ecstatic over the display of the two brave souls who took on the Troll. Others grieved over the losses of their loved ones. Most took the loss of the Hills equally as hard since the family was loved by all and could only wonder what the little girl was going through.

Kasmeer forced her eyes open as she slowly got up into sitting position and placing one hand on her head. Last night was still fresh in her mind as she wiped her eyes to clear the sleep out of them. "Hmph." She breathed out with a tiny smile as she looked at the little girl sleeping next to her. Emily had cried in her sleep most of the night so the mesmer held her close. It wasn't much but she wanted to comfort her the best way she could. She still blamed herself for not being able to save the little girl's parents. Sighing, she got out of bed with her gown trailing behind her. Turning to the girl she leaned over and gently stroked her silky brown hair before pulling the covers up to her neck. Satisfied, she left out the room to wake her friend up.

_"Hmm...? Wonder where he could have gotten off to?"_ She said pondering to herself. She walked down stairs and outside to search.

* * *

Over by a waterfall Starkk was practicing, shirtless with black pants on and bare footed. He was a flurry of steps and spins as he performed his sword motions. Overhead slash, step back, horizontal stance, one handed stab, parry, side step to the right then turn. He spun on his toes as his arm sailed in a circular motion causing the blade to sing from the force and kick up a good sized amount of water as it splashed onto the bushes. The drops of water seemed to glint as they fell like rain around him. He took a deep breath before staring up at the sky with one hand balled up into a fist. _"I wonder what you would have did in that situation big bro...? Knowing you, you would have probably went out and hunted the little bastard down before it could get to anyone else."_ Brushing those thoughts aside he focused back on his regime.

Peeking out through one of the trees, Kasmeer was entranced by his display. It was like watching living art. The way he moved. There were never any unnecessary movements when he either swung his blade or changed stances. To her it was breath taking and beautiful to watch. Wait a second? When did she start having thoughts like this? This was her best friend for crying outloud! Of course she cared for him a lot but this, this was different and it made her feel a little uneasy. Smacking her cheeks she walked over.

"Impressive! That was spectacular!" She said clapping.

"Oh, hey Mira. How did you sleep last night?" He asked genuinely as he picked up a cloth and wiped the sweat away.

"I slept okay given the circumstances. Those were some really amazing movements! It was was really neat to look at! She said praising him.

"Not really...yesterday made me realize that I still have a long way to go. If I wouldn't have been so stupid and careless then Miss Veronica and Mister Garoth wouldn't have had to die." He said looking at his hands. This caused her to look at the grass and huddle her knees up to her chest. They were both sitting down.

"Today, I'm going to make a vow to keep getting stronger. I've lost way too many people. Too many in number to count. Those two are going to be the last. So from here on out I'm going to train harder so that I never have to lose anyone precious to me ever again. This I swear!" She stared at him for awhile. There was a fire in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. This wasn't just typical tough guy talk. You could tell in his voice, posture and expression that he meant every word of it. Before he could do anything else she leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. It wasn't deep or too much. Just enough for his eyes to stare blankly at what just happened.

"Who knew you could sound so cool and manly at the same time." She said smiling at him toothily with a small patch of rose on her cheeks. He was blushing too as he scratched the back of his head, flustered.

"I don't really know what to say Mira..." He said dumbly. She got up with one hand on her hip and a finger pointed at him.

"That was a kiss between friends and nothing more so don't go getting any wise ideas! Got it?" She said trying to suppress the smile and hint of rose on her face. She offered him a hand. He smiled and grabbed it.

"Right, forgive my impertinence princess." He said jokingly as he got up. They both stood in that position as they stared at each other. Rays of light had pierced through the trees and illuminated the area around them.

* * *

They went back to the inn to get dressed and ready for their original assignment. Starkk was back in his Infiltrator suit and Kasmeer in her dress. They wanted to eat first before they headed out.

"You sure you don't need help?" He asked.

"Nah, just sit tight. I'll bring it all here." Kasmeer said as she brought their food over bit by bit.

"Is Emily still sleeping?" Starkk questioned as he looked over to the stairs.

"After I got dressed she was just getting up. She hasn't been really talkative though." She said with a worried expression. As if on q she came slowly down the stairs. She had gotten herself dressed fairly quick as she made her way to where the other two were sitting. Everyone in the inn could see that she had better days. She didn't look either of them in the eye as she sat down. The both of them looked at her uneasily.

"Mornin tiger." Was all Starkk could say. He didn't want to say anything that could possibly make her feel worse than she already did. After all, reading emotions were apart of his trade.

"Are you hungry? There's plenty to eat?" Kasmeer said sweetly. The girl didn't say anything as her lips seem to move inwardly. Getting a single word out would be a feat for the little girl at this point. Kasmeer could feel a slight pain in her chest as she stared at her.

"Emily...you really should eat something. It's not good for you t-" She tried to say before the little girl cut her off.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT MY MOMMY! YOU PROMISED DIDN'T YOU!? WHY DIDN'T YOU KEEP YOUR PROMISE!? YOU LIAR! WHY DID YOU LET MOMMY AND DADDY DIE!?" She said in a loud quivering voice as fresh tears fell out of her eyes. Everyone was silent at the little girl's outburst. Kasmeer dropped the fork in her hand, stunned. She closed her eyes and turned her head. She was right. She was counting on her and she failed. This little girl was now an orphan and it was her fault. Emily got up and ran out of the inn.

"Emily! Wait!" Kasmeer yelled but to no avail. She was already gone.

"I'll go find her. I can pretty much relate to her so she will probably be a little more understanding if I talk to her." The purple-eyed man said getting up and heading towards the door. She simply nodded before staring at the floor.

* * *

The little girl had sat herself up against one of the trees with her head folded into her arms. Her surprisingly long auburn hair wasn't wrapped up in a ponytail but went down to her back nearly touching the ground. She didn't care how long she sat there. She just wanted to be alone.

The assassin saw her as he came into view. She had her head down and was deathly quiet. Cautiously he approached. "Hey ankle biter...you gave us quite a scare when you ran off." The girl made no attempt to acknowledge him. "I'm going to sit down if that's okay with you?" He said softly. This at least got a barely visible nod out of the girl.

"I don't expect you to forgive me or Mira, not that I can blame you. I just want you to know that me and her care about you more than you can imagine. No amount of sorry is going to fix what what we could have probably prevented." He gritted his teeth. "It just frustrates the hell out of me that good people like you have to go through crap like this when you shouldn't!" He said balling a bunch of grass up in his fist. Emily raised her head up to stare at him. Tiny amounts of tears were still falling down her face but she was listening to him. He noticed her staring at him and quickly composed himself.

"You know I was like you when I was your age."

"Really?" She said as her voice cracked just a bit.

He nodded. "Yup. When my parents died I was bitter, mad at the world, cried a lot, got into arguments with my brother and sister sometimes but you want to know what kept me going? It was the fact that somewhere out there...they were watching over me and my siblings. I can't exactly explain it in words but they've helped me out in times of need. Even in situations that I thought I'd never get out of." He said with a calm expression on his face. She stared at the dirt patch that she was currently sitting on, an unsure expression plastered on her features. Starkk saw this and put an arm around her prompting her to look up at him. For some odd reason she felt warm when she looked at him. Protected.

"I know your parents are doing the same right now I just know it. By Balthazar I really suck at this." He said rubbing his nose with a tinge of embarrassment. He shook his head. "Listen kiddo, there's nothing wrong with grieving and being sad. We all know how much you loved them. We loved them too but at some point you just got to be strong and forge ahead. I'm sure they wouldn't want to see you like this and would have wanted you to be happy. Don't forget, you still have a lot of people here on the plantation who still care about you, Kasmeer and I included. We couldn't protect your parents but I swear on her and my behalf, even if it saps the very energy from our souls, that we will protect you no matter what. That's what big brothers and sisters are for right?" He ended his statement with a gentle smile.

She watched him for a bit before her lips quivered. She speared herself into him as she cried into his chest. Carefully he patted her back. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kasmeer walking up. She had heard the whole thing from a nearby tree. She smiled and nodded at him. He did the same.

* * *

"We just want to thank you two again for all that you've done. You did more for this village than we could have asked for." A female farmhand said graciously. A crowd was gathered to see them off.

"It was no trouble at all, really. Are you sure you guys will be alright though?" The blond haired mesmer asked.

"I'm sure of it milady, don't worry. Most of the more vicious creatures and animals stay away from these parts. Even if one strays too far, we got guard patrols that come through here daily and we also have a few who know how to defend themselves so we can manage somehow if it gets that far. Still, it was quite rare for a troll that large to have wondered all the way out here. They usually prefer not to interfere or have human contact at all unless their nesting areas are disturbed. Probably got too curious for it's own good or hungry. Unfortunate for us if you ask me." She said the last statement offhandedly.

This caused the dread head to frown and put a hand on his chin. Something about that last segment didn't sit right with him. There were a ton of theories that came to mind, the cavern and the bandits being one of them but he decided to brush it off for now.

"Still, what a mess. Just wish we would have got him before it escalated to the point that it did."

"Hey now, we can't expect you guys to be perfect. You took it out before it caused irreversible damage. You did more than we could have asked for kid. So hold your head up high and be proud. Isn't that something the old man would have said?" A man with a duster hat said as he took a piece of hay out of his mouth and winked at the young adult in front of him.

"Heh, guess I can't argue with that. Thanks, for having the both of us. Wish there was more we could do for you but you guys seem like you can hold down the fort from here on out. Please take care and keep Emily safe for us. As much as me and Kasmeer want to, we really aren't in a position to take care of her." This got him a pair of nods and smiles.

He turned to his partner. "Well Mira, shall we get going then?"

"Lets! Evil dooers beware! Tyria's number one bad guy butt kicking duo is comin at ya!" She said throwing a peace sign which got them a bunch of cheers from swooning men. It then got quiet as everyone made way for someone. They could hear panting. It was Emily. She had her hands on her knees as she struggled to regain her breath.

"Y-Y-You're leaving!?" She said struggling to breath.

"Yeah... sorry kiddo. Duty calls. This isn't goodbye forever. Kas and me will try to come visit you when we can. Until then keep yourself out of trouble for big brother, okay?" He said with a sympathetic smile.

"Kay..." She said looking down at the ground sadly. She then looked up at Kasmeer. Both of her hands clasped together and were pressed gently on her chest as her green orbs stared at her. She was trying to figure out what to say to her ever since she blew up at her in the inn. She didn't meant it, it just came out. She sorely didn't have a clue on what to say to her at all. Kasmeer simply giggled and turned away and walked off.

The little girl's eyes widened in apprehension. "Kassy, wait! I..." She cried desperately.

"Mira...?" Starkk said in puzzlement at his friend's action. Kasmeer simply put a hand up and waved as she kept walking. Emily's lips began to wobble a little as she struggled to say something.

"KASSY! I don't hate you! I'm sorry for what I said so please don't be mad! I didn't mean any of it! I was just being a stupid little kid! I love you so much and I'm going to miss you! So that's why..."

Kasmeer stopped. She clenched both of her fists as she bit her lip. Her vision was getting blurry as she started to tremble slightly. It proved a bit difficult to try and regain her composure.

"So that's why I'm going to grow up and become strong like you! You're so pretty, kind and gentle just like mama!" She was crying now. Kasmeer was doing the same. She had a hand cupped over her mouth. The tears wouldn't stop spilling.

"I promise... I promise by the time you come back, I'll have grown into a strong woman just like you so you don't have to worry anymore.." The auburn haired little girl said through sobs.

Kasmeer turned around smiling and wiping tears from her face. "I'm sure you're going to grow into a very strong and beautiful young lady. Nothing is going to make me more happy than when that day comes!" This got a wide smile of joy from the little girl as she ran up to her, both embracing each other. Her partner and the other farmhands grinned at the display.

* * *

As everyone waved them off Emily looked up into the sky. _"When you two see me again I promise that I'll have grown into a stronger person. I hope you're watching too mama, papa..."_

* * *

"Wheeeeew, that was quite a ride. Almost made me forget what we originally had to do." Starkk said stretching.

"Well, we need to be on our guard. It's going to get more dangerous from here on out. You thought about it too right?" Kasmeer said seriously.

The assassin adorned a stern look as he looked off into the distance. "Yeah, a gut feeling tells me that those bandit pieces of trash had something to do with that troll. Them and that so called dealer. Either way we will know when we get there."

* * *

**Royal Palace: Briefing Room**

"That's all I have for my report, sir!" The Seraph Guardsman said handing Logan the rest of the papers.

"Thank you, you may take your leave."

"Sir!" The guardsman saluted before walking out the door.

"_Something just doesn't add up. A troll coming that far up north to a plantation? Doesn't make any sense on how it got so far without meeting any kind of resistance from wandering heroes or soldiers. It had to have been some kind of outside influence." _The Seraph Commander said to himself in deep thought.

Queen Jennah walked in. She saw the expression he had and arched an eyebrow. "There you go with that look again, did something happen?"

"Pretty much. One of the uglies, a huge one came far up north and attacked a plantation. There were casualties and Starkk and Kasmeer happened to be there at the time." He said rubbing his eyebrows.

"I see. Are the both of them alright?" She said concerned.

He nodded. "From the guard's report, they seemed to have killed it and got out with minor injuries. That's not what's bothering me though. Something or someone had a hand in it. There's no way a troll would go that far on it's own."

"Do you think this Toran fellow and the bandits may have something to do with it?" Jennah asked.

"Maybe but it's anyone's guess. Best we can do right now is leave it to the both of them."

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity the two managed to reach there destination, no doubt after having to deal with a few nuisances along the way.

"Pardon my french here for a second but fuck harpies, seriously!" Starkk said highly agitated.

"Oh you, you always get grouchy when people take pot shots at you." The mesmer replied back.

"I don't know what's worse, hearing their annoying ass high pitched squawking or having them dive bomb you while shooting arrows or swiping you with swords."

"Sounds like a certain somebody I know when he has a little toooooo many, if you catch my drift..." She said teasingly.

He looked at her flatly. "Ha-ha." His face got serious as he shot a glance over at a rock pathway. There were bandits patrolling it's perimeter. He gave his partner a quick nudge as she quickly caught on. They both hid behind a rock, peeking over it. Kasmeer then felt something rubbing against her. She kept trying to swat it away.

"Starkk, cut it out!" She whispered.

"Wha?" He said confused.

"Come on, I'm serious... h-h-habababababa...HYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She yelped. A 6 legged Luminescent Grub with pincers and the size of a small dog had stumbled onto the two. It seemed to have take a liking to the woman as it tried to snuggle up against her. Starkk had a hand cupped over her mouth as he looked over. The bandits didn't seem to hear the loud noise. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning to his friend.

"Mira, it's just a grub. These things are harmless, isn't that right wittle guy?" He said petting it. It seemed to chirp in response at his affection. Kasmeer was knocked out cold and foaming from the mouth. Starkk had a sweatdrop on his head as he stared haplessly at his friend. He gently nudged the grub to move along which it complied and scurried off back into the woods.

"Mira wake up..." He said shaking her. "Come on, wake up..." Still no response. "Welp, guess I have no choice then." He began slapping her, not hard at all of course but enough to wake her up.

***WHAM!* **

Kasmeer planted a fist on his head sending him crashing to the ground and making cracks in it. "Serves you right!" She said still holding a fist up.

Starkk managed to raise a hand up, face still planted into the ground. "I-I-I was just trying t-t-to wake you up..." He said in a muffled voice.

* * *

"Okay so here's the plan. I have a couple of SR Bombs, (Shadow Refuge Bombs. People who play the game will know what I mean or know the ability at least). I'll use one to cloak us so we can sneak by the goons at the entrance. Do you think once we're halfway inside that you could pop your invisibility spell?"

She nodded. "You got it! What are we going to do once we get that far?" She questioned.

"Once we're inside we will find some place to hide and then we can decide a course of action on how we're going to apprehend this guy from there. The bandits are of little concern to me, despite their numbers. I'm more worried about how much of a problem this dealer is going to be."

"Well it's like they say, no time like the present." She said passively. With that he grabbed the bomb out of one of the pouches on his utility belt and threw it down, cloaking them. They were silent as they dashed a couple of feet then slowed it down to a silent but brisk creep. They managed to alternate between the two perfectly.

Over in the shadows, someone had watched the both of them before they disappeared.

* * *

**Bandit Haunt Caverns: Entrance**

"We got a killing with that last village we pillaged!" One of the bandits exclaimed excitedly.

"Hahaha, no kiddin!" Another one said. "With that war going on, they've been easy pickins! Say? You know what the boss man was talking about earlier?"

The man beside him shook his head. "No fuckin clue. Not that I care any. If it don have anything to do with loot or booze then it has no interest to me."

A female bandit walked up. "The hell are you losers talking about?" She said pointedly.

The bandit's lips curled upward in annoyance. "None of your god damn business you dumb broad. Why don't you make yourself useful and give me some relief down here." He said pointing down at his crotch.

"How about I cut it off instead you shitty bastard!" She snarled. Everyone else laughed as the two argued back in forth. Unbeknownst to them, the two Seraph Agents snuck past them and into the humid cave. Once they were inside, Kasmeer quickly chanted her invisibility spell to increase the duration of their invisibility. They took a second to look around. Some were sitting down in chairs, conversing with one another or patrolling. They both looked over yonder to see an opening leading to a bigger room. That's probably where they wanted to be. They slowly made their way there. Once they made it they spotted a large oval shaped rock covered hut. The invisibility was starting to wear off so they made haste inside.

"We haven't seen anyone so far that matches the description so he must be deeper in the cave. Anyway while we're in here we should look for anything important." Kasmeer said shifting through some books.

"Agreed." Her partner said as he made his way to a long counter. The room was rather spacious. He noticed a pair of large pieces of paper spread out along it. Upon closer inspection his eyes narrowed. They were pictures of different regions. He recognized a few of them. Ascalon, Meguuma and the Shiverpeaks. A gigantic crystal like object could be seen planted in the ground in each pic. It looked like a site of some sort.

"Mira, come take a look at this." Starkk said motioning for the girl to come over. She walked over.

"What do you think it is?" She said eyeing them curiously.

"I don't know but it can't be good. I'm sure old man Logan is going to want to look at this. Do you think you can grab these and store them somewhere?"

"Not a problem, leave it to me!" With a wave of her fingers, she lifted the pieces of paper up as a purple like swirl materialized in the air. With a snap of her finger the anomaly opened revealing a pitch black void. The parchment was sucked in and disappeared into thin air. Just as they were about to turn and leave a bandit walked in.

"The fuc...HEY!" He yelled. Before he could draw his dagger or shout for help the assassin closed the distance between them fast. The brigand threw a punch but the tan-skinned manned was quicker as he simply raised an arm up to deflect the would be blow. Using his forearm, Starkk brought it violently to the man's Adam's apple and slamming him roughly to the wall. Before he could do anything else the dread head cocked his free arm back and planted a fist into his gut with tremendous pressure. The bandit slumped against the wall and onto the ground, passed out.

"Come on! We got to find this guy fast."

She nodded in agreement. As they ran a shot rung out and pinged against the wooden frame that made up the door causing the two to duck behind some rocks. Bandits began to file into the area. Either they wandered into said place by chance or came to find out why their buddy was taking so long. They were caught now so it didn't matter. There were at least a dozen of them. The ones that weren't shooting at them were slowly advancing in with melee weapons. They couldn't stay in this position for long.

"Kasmeer! I'll take out the ones with guns. You get the ones closing in on us!"

"Right!" She yelled back. He pulled out **Azuza and Raspira**. Taking aim with the one in his left hand he looked through the asuran pistol's scope before getting a bead on the brigand's head. He squeezed the trigger. With a sickening crack the tiny bullet pierced the man's skull instantly sending him to a cold oblivion as he hit the ground. The ninja was off as he dashed in between tables, barrels and rocks while taking shots at the people trying to kill them.

"The bastard's trying to flank us! Cut em off." One of the gunman screamed to his melee weapon wielding compatriots.

"Not on my watch! You creeps!" Kasmeer stated matter of factly. Lifting one of her hands up she lifted a bandit that had a sword and shield off his legs and into the air. With one swift motion she slammed him roughly into his friends causing them to careen into the ground hard. A female bandit with braided blue hair had crept up on her. Kasmeer looked up in time to block her Tamini Battle-Axe with her staff.

"Pretty face bitches like you piss me off to no end... that's why I'm going to dice your face open starting with your eyes!" She said in an ugly voice.

"I feel sorry for you..." Kasmeer said with a bored expression.

"Why's that you prissy, smug faced bimbo!?" She roared.

"Cuz of this." Kasmeer leaned on her back as she pressed both of her legs into the woman's stomach and launching her over before suspending her in mid air with her telekinesis. She then pressed her back against the ground as her fists glowed with purple. Thrusting both of her palms in the air, she unleashed a technique that was one of her personal favorites called **Psiconic Fury**. Purple fists seemed to come out of no where and hit the woman with echoing blows that caused purple like wisps of energy to appear each time they impacted with the bandit's body. With a flick of her wrist she threw the helpless victim head first into a wall then back onto the ground with thunderous force. She wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, or ever. She quickly got up and ran out into the opening, throwing up a spherical forcefield around her as the gunfire concentrated on her. Sadly for the bandits they didn't see the assassin above them as he flipped over, gunning the lot down before he landed. With a blur he shadowstepped to where she was. They were back to back as his arms angled and pointed the twin pistols at the remaining bandits that started to surround them. Kasmeer had one of her arms incased in purple and the staff held out in front of her in the other. Both of their eyes were looking left to right as they sized up the bandit's numbers.

"**Hahahahahahaha! Well done, these morons didn't stand a chance against you."** An ominous voice said. Starkk's eyes narrowed dangerously as he tried to make out the figure approaching. Kasmeer looked over her shoulder.

"Boss!" One of them piped up.

"**Hmph... you guys honestly can't handle two intruders? Pathetic." **He matched the appearance in the photo. The reddish purple skin, spikes around his face and yellow snake like eyes. That wasn't all. He was giant and imposing, sporting heavy draconic looking plate armor that was a blackish purple with intimidating spikes around the shoulders, arms and leg armor. A glowing yellow eye could be seen in the middle of it. On his back was what looked to be a translucent red sword that looked like skin with a black hilt.

"Toran I presume?" Starkk asked simply.

"**Indeed. Sorry to cut this short but may I ask what you two are doing here? It's pretty hard finding useful idiots you know?" **He said in an other worldly voice.

"We're here to arrest you, bring you in for interrogation and end your smuggling operation!" Kasmeer said fiercely.

He waved her off with a bored expression.** "To be frank, I technically didn't bring these here rather I ordered these fools to retrieve them for me. Of course these imbeciles go and bring attention to themselves. I tell you, if you want something done then you need to do it yourself."**

"Tch!" The assassin smacked his teeth in frustration. "It's all the same to me so I don't really see the difference. Why don't you quit wasting our time and just come quietly so I don't have to pound your ugly mug into the ground to make you cooperate."

The man, (if you could consider him a man) frowned at him, obviously annoyed with the young assassin's words. **"Such hubris...I should gut you myself for that filthy mouth of yours. Unfortunately, time isn't on my side. I'll let you play with these clowns. Kill them." **He said before walking off into another area.

"Get your ass back here!" Starkk said as he tried to dash. He stopped abruptly as the bandits moved closer. "Shit!" He growled.

"Starkk, you go after him. I can handle things here." Kasmeer said quickly.

"Like hell! I'm not going to leave you here to take all these guys on by yourself!" He argued.

"These guys are nothing but small fry, gnats even more so." She retorted.

"Don't be stupid! We fight these guys together! He won't get far!"

"Darn it Starkk! We don't have time for this!" She twirled her staff around creating a circular purple trail around the whole area. "This is my entire line. If you try to come back here and cross it without taking care of that guy first then I'm going to beat you up! You're in the way right now! You're an assassin right? You're letting your emotions get in the way of the mission when it shouldn't! Get it together! You got your task I got mine, get going!"

He looked at her for a bit before smirking and turning. " I'll go finish things with this guy and come back quickly. You better be careful Mira, I mean it. I don't want to leave but I'm going against my better judgment to believe in you."

She moved her hand shooing him off. "Yeah yeah, now get going!" With that he immediately broke off into a sprint. She smiled as a tiny blush crept up on her face as she watched him go.

"Don't think so cocksucker!" One bandit said as a group of them tried to impede his way. He shadowstepped through them and kept running.

"Fuck!" A dirty blonde haired bandit yelled as he tried to run after him but stopped after he saw that it was pointless. They all turned their attention to the lone mesmer. Perverse grins spread throughout their ranks.

"Meh, let him go. The boss will split him in two anyway. We got ourselves a more delectable specimen here!" A bunch of laughs rung out around the entire room.

Kasmeer smiled mischievously. "Sorry but I'm afraid I can't hold back on you guys so I hope you're prepared. This will hurt, a lot."

* * *

**Bandit Haunt Caverns: Staging Room**

Starkk followed the narrow cavernous hallway until he reached another large room. This one had banners and rope running along the walls. In the center of the room was a throne. There he was, with his back turned.

"**It's a shame really, you two are going to die here. You know that don't you? I mean for what? To try to uncover our dirty little smuggling operation? You're in way over your head brat, you know nothing." **He said chuckling evilly.

"I don't think so asshole. All this ends here. One way or another." The purple eyed 20yr old said resting a hand on his hilt.

Toran smirked. **"Tell me something? Did you happen to run into a Forest Troll? I sent him to a farm to supposedly deal with two dashing heroes who had the potential to oppose and ruin my plans."**

Starkk froze. "What did you just say..."

The monster of a man's face contorted into a twisted grin. **"Ah! Judging from that expression it was you two that I sent that troll to kill. Marvelous. The experiment was indeed successful then. I didn't think that Chameleon Serum I infused it with would work. It managed to slip by undetected. Stupendous! Tell me though did it at least get to snack on a couple of filthy humans before it's untimely demise?" **He said with a chin on his hand like nothing was wrong with what he just said. The Seraph Agent on the other hand was shaking slightly as his face was shadowed. When he looked up the most virulent form of killing intent was etched across his features as he lunged at the heavily armored foe in front of him sword in hand.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" He screeched loudly as Amaterasu clanged loudly against the other man's rather large sword. "THOSE WERE GOOD PEOPLE YOU KILLED YOU DEGENERATE FUCK! GOOD PEOPLE!" He screamed further as he pressed the blade harder against the red greatsword.

The beastman laughed maniacally. **"Is this really how an assassin should be conducting himself? I always thought they were suppose to be cold and calculating?"** He taunted. This earned him an even more feral scowl from the smaller man. They both then pushed each other back.

"**I wonder if your little girlfriend will be more receptive of me once you're dead. Hmm, the possibilities." He said licking his lips.**

The assassin's fingers curled as he held a hand up to his face. He lowered the hand down to reveal his eyes glowing an intense yellow color. The look on his face would have made even Tyria's most fearsome monsters soil themselves simply from bearing witness to it. _**"Logan should be able to settle for a head and a torso. As long as you can form coherent sentences then it should be of little consequence. I'll just have Kasmeer keep your brain from trying to shut down the rest of your body due to the pain." **_He said in a chilling voice.

Toran's face contorted into a crazed open mouth grin. **"SUCH SADISM! IT MAKES MY NAPE HAIRS RISE IN ECSTASY! COME BOY!"**

* * *

With a blinding flash of light Starkk was in his trump card mode. The monster swung his blade in a wide arc at frightening speed. The assassin managed to leap over it by a hairs breath but also getting his left arm wounded in the process. Time seem to stop as he was parallel to the oversized metal object. Spinning around he revealed one of his** Glyphic Pistols** as he fired a couple of shots before landing on his stomach. The humanoid shielded his face with impressive speed as they pinged off his armored hands and into different directions. He raised his greatsword in the air before swinging it down. Starkk quickly kicked himself off the ground, avoiding it. It cut a sizable wedge into the floor below. He then got into a hunched position as he pulled a handful of throwing knives out. They started to glow a bright yellow that illuminated the room. With a flash he threw a couple. It was so fast that an untrained eye wouldn't be able to follow it. The other man deflected them. He threw some more. They were quicker than the first. They were deflected. He kept throwing them as he got faster and faster until he was nothing but a blur of movement.

"**You're starting to bore me now human and for you that's very bad..."** He said before he sensed something above him. The assassin was spinning in the air before making a gale like slash in his direction. Toran slashed through him only for the yellowish ethereal image to disappear. **"What the!?" **He said in confusion. Another one came in on his right doing the same thing but it was cut as well, disappearing. A feint. The clones were attacking him from all sides. Maneuvering around while trying to land hits. Thing of it is, they weren't just images. They could actual inflict damage on him. One managed to get up under him, doing a backwards frontflip and trying to nick him under the chin. He managed to move a hand in the way to intercept it before slamming the image into the ground. Two more were right in front of him, moving in fast. They both got hits in before the real flesh and blood one came in the middle. Starkk landed two diagonal cuts to the beastman's hard armor before rolling on the ground and positioning himself in a crouch with both hands on his hilt and his blade pointed out in front of him. The technique was another one of his trump card's abilities called **Cross-Break**.

Dark blue blood leaked out of the fresh cut causing the giant to slide a finger against it. He looked at the liquid on his hand for a second before licking it and smiling darkly. **"Very good! You managed to wound me but let's see how you fair against this."** A massive red aura formed around the monster as it started to compress the energy into itself. Before the assassin could react the giant sent a huge red energy wave towards him.

"_Damn! No time to dodge, got to block!"_ He said as he raised his artifact up in hopes of enduring the attack. The attack crashed into him as it caused his feet to anchor into the ground. The floor began to break from the immense pressure. He was gritting his teeth so hard that they started to bleed. It was too much. With a scream he was thrown off his feet and impacted heavily into a wall putting a rather large crater in it. He slid to the ground as bits of rubble fell onto him. His helmet disengaged. His face was bleeding and one eye was a halfway closed. He looked up to see the bandit leader walking up to him.

"**That it then? Such a shame! Looks like you're at your limit so I'll be ending this now!" **He stated triumphantly. Starkk merely glared at him. Before any of them could plan their next move a small spherical object landed next to the brute of a giant. He looked at it only to gasp in fear. It exploded knocking him back. Starkk went wide eyed as he tried to search for the sphere's owner. He then caught a glimpse of a small rectangular glass box landing near him before exploding and releasing a green gas. He coughed a bit before blinking in surprise. He could feel the damage he suffered go away as he inspected his entire body. The unknown person walked up. She was wearing a brown cloak with a hood and had on what looked to be red engineering armor.

"Looks like you could use a hand." She said in a sylvian voice.

"_A sylvari? Here?" _Starkk said surprised. She offered him a hand. He took it as he raised himself up. "I appreciate the assist but who are you?" He said cautiously.

She smiled under the hood. "I'm not an enemy so don't worry. Seeing as you're fighting him we're both here for the same reason."

* * *

"Hieeeeeeee! She's a monster!" One of the bandits screamed like a girl. Using her trickster half of her mesmer abilities Kasmeer had manipulated some of the bandits into fighting each other. The few that weren't busy trying to kill one another found themselves under assault from her vicious telekinetic abilities, exploding clones and deadly purple energy blasts of doom. Some tried to get close but her staff just wasn't for show. With the grace of a swan she avoided strikes that would have caused deep wounds and answered in kind with painful strikes of her own.

"Ahahahahahaahahahah! This is great! I wonder if Starkk is having as much fun as I am?" Her moment of joy was cut short as more of them came running at her. "Geez! There's no end to them! Well guess I have no choice!" She begun to spin as she and her staff twirled at high speed. Lightning began to cackle around her. Everyone could feel the tremendous energy radiating from her as a giant purple swirl began forming under her.

"You guys feel that!?" One of the guards said in terror.

"Man fuck this! We should have never messed with this broad!"

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is!?"

The whirlwind grew even larger. **"(EXTREME MAGIC! VORTEX!)" **The tornado expanded sucking everyone in as it blew skyward making a hole in the cavern's ceiling. Once it ended, half of the room was cleared with a handful of bandits left. Some were still shaken by the attack while others were still up for taking on the powerful mesmer.

Kasmeer exhaled. "You would think they'd give up by now..."

* * *

The two had been arguing back and forth who would take care of the mutant behemoth. Starkk needed him incapacitated and alive for interrogation so he wanted to be the one to take care of him. The slyvari on the other hand argued that her higher ups wanted the guy dead. She said the reason was classified which prompted the assassin to insist even further.

"I already told you vine head! It's classified! All you need to know is that my employers want him dead. I saved your neck back there so you could at least oblige me a little." She said frustratedly

"Screw that you overgrown plant! If you can't tell me the reason why you want to kill him then no deal!" He yelled back.

"Who you calling an overgrown plant!? Shorty!" She said clamping both of her hands on his armor.

"Who you callin short! You mutant vegetable!? We're both the same height!" They both butted heads.

"**You know... I've just about had it with the both of your bluthering. I feel like I'm being severely underestimated here. Do you two really believe that this going to be easy for you!"** Toran said with growing anger.

The sylvari shook her head. "Look, there's no time to argue. We both just need to focus on taking this guy out. We can decide what to do once we got him into submission" She looked over to him to see if he had any complaints. He had none. "Good! **NOW! BLAST! VOLK! (Endless Utilities).** She bellowed as she grabbed the artifact gun on her back. It had stretched out from it's original shape. It was a rust color with a box like barrel. It had green lights that blinked on and off on the sides of it. A green laser sight was on the bottom of it. A disk could be seen floating on the top of it and spinning. Judging from the design of the whole thing it's origin couldn't be determined from looking at it.

Starkk eyed the weapon in wonder. _"So she has an artifact too? Interesting."_

"Here he comes!" The sylvari said in alarm. The assassin's helm came back on as both of them dispersed immediately. He was shooting more of those strange waves at them, splitting them into two. It made it hard for the assassin to get close so he had to focus on dodging mainly. The disk on the sylvari's gun opened up revealing two orb like drones with propellers. The center of them opened up to reveal a tiny minigun like barrel. They began to fire. They didn't seem like they were doing much but they served as a good distraction as he tried to swat them away. This allowed Starkk to get close. Before Toran could stop him he stabbed him in the stomach before sliding the sword to the right, bringing it out with a loud wet sound.

"**YOU WRETCH!"** The behemoth said nastily as he grabbed the man by his face and slammed him roughly into the ground before running while dragging him against it. He then lifted him up. His palms started to radiate a dark energy. Starkk struggled in his grasp. Before he could release his attack the rogue sliced the arm off and backflipped away from him narrowly avoiding a blue beam of light that took the monster of his feet. If it wasn't for that brief pause in the mutant bandit leader's attention then he might not have been able to get away. Starkk looked around. There were multiple blue holograms of the sylvari around the area that surrounded Toran.

"Looks like I saved your neck once again!" She said in a sing song tone.

"As if you idiot! What if that would hit me as well!?" He yelled with a shark like face.

She shrugged. "Nah, those beams are harmless to anyone I deem an ally so it wouldn't have hurt you either way. He on the other hand isn't so lucky." The blast seemed to leave a large blue trail on the ground that lead up to where the creature had crashed into a wall. His eyes glowed an ominous white through the dust as he got himself up.

"**What the hell was that!?" **He hissed.

The slyvian engineer smirked. "Allow me to explain. It's one of Volk's trump card abilities. It allows me to create holograms of myself. They have the ability to fire lasers that corresponds to the colors of any organic or inorganic target. It won't matter how many times you try to dodge. As long as you have the colors on that correspond to the hologram then it can hit you. Since you're bleeding blue blood and have on purple then I'm sure you can figure out where this is heading. This ability isn't without a weakness though. My holograms can be destroyed by anyone who's competent enough. That means they're useless against anyone who mainly fights at a range or has strong enough magic or skill to block the lasers. That's not the case with you though since you're pretty beat up and look like you're on your last legs."

"**YOU BITCH! YOU THINK THIS CHEAP PARLOUR TRICK IS GOING TO WORK ON THE GREAT TORAN!? WHEN I'M DONE WITH THE BOTH OF YOU NOT EVEN YOUR BONES WILL REMAIN!"** He stepped forward and onto the glowing blue trail only to stumble back in pain as a veil of blue washed over him. **"ERRK! W-What is this trail!"**

"Oh, forgot to mention, those trails can electrocute you if you touch them. So I wouldn't move if I were you! I believe this is checkmate!" With her last words the holograms in the area began opening fire on the bandit leader. He couldn't do anything but take them. Even if he tried to move the trails on the ground left him trapped. Once they stopped their assault and the dust cleared a very battered and wounded Toran could be seen barely standing.

"**Sorry... but it's going to take more than that to finish me off! As I stated before you're in way over your heads. This isn't even my true power!"** He said dangerously.

The sylvari sighed. "I'll give you this much, it's impressive that you're still standing after taking that attack but it's as I already stated... it's over for you. You're on now vine head!" Toran looked up in time to see the assassin appear in front of him. In a flurry of motion the armored warrior delivered multiple strikes to him in rapid succession. Another clone came in doing the same thing. There were a bunch of clones and they all seemed to move in a 360 degree motion, completely overwhelming him. They seemed to be going through him as they weaved in and out. With one last strike the assassin disappeared in a glint of light, spinning on the ground before coming to an abrupt stop with his blade stretched outwards before slowly bringing it back to his sheathe. He had just performed **Cross-Break's **finisher, (**Ten Step Mirror Dance, Serrated Light Blades).** Once the sword clicked back into the sheathe Toran fell to the ground, unmoving. Starkk stared at him for awhile before his eyes widened in horror. The giant's body was disappearing.

"Damn!" He said as he ran over. It was too late he was already gone. He gritted his teeth angrily. Before he could think of anything else the whole cavern began to shake. "Crap! Looks this place is starting to come apart! I need to get back to Kasmeer! Hey! Plant girl..." He looked around but she was no where to be found. She must have left.

* * *

**Bandit Haunt Caverns: Entrance**

"Get the remaining bandits we have in custody out of here! We can worry about the ones who got away some other time!" Kasmeer commanded. Once she finished off the remaining bandits a group of wandering Seraph Soldiers had made their way into the cave to see what the disturbance was about. She filled them in. Before they all could go aid her partner the place began to shake and collapse around them.

"_Starkk... I hope you're okay!"_ She said worriedly before running out into the field. Her worry was cut short as she saw him run out another entrance to the far right. "Starkk you made it!" They both hugged each other. "I'm so glad you're okay! What happened in there?"

"Woah...woah settle down there for a second Mira. I'll explain everything back at Divnity's Reach." He said tiredly. He noticed it was getting awfully shady. He looked up into the sky only for his face to adorn a blank gate. Kasmeer noticed it and followed his vision only for her mouth to drop open. Nearby townfolks and wandering heroes gathered around to stare at the unknown entity in the sky. They all shared the same looks as the other two.

"What in Melandru's name is that!" One of the seraph guards said.

"It's enormous!" A hero said in a shaking voice. This got a lot of audible whispers out of the crowd gathered.

The assassin's irises were tiny as a copious amount of uncontrollable anger began to well inside of him.

* * *

**Royal Palace: Seraphim Offices**

Logan's eyes went wide as he got up immediately summoning his legendary sword and shield. "This presence! Could it be!?"

Jennah immediately got up in alarm. "Logan! What is it! What's going on!?" He teleported before she could get an answer. "LOGAN! Damn it!" She said mirroring the Seraph Commander's gesture.

* * *

Everyone saw the new comers appear. This got quite a few surprised reactions.

"Queen Jennah, Commander Thackery!?" Kasmeer said in disbelief. Logan's eyes mirrored the young assassin's. His legendary artifact sword **Foltest **and shield **Paragon** were already drawn.

"T-Thats..." Queen Jennah stammered. The dragon was titanic in size and seemed to be surrounded by drakes that were half his size. It was golden in color with a wide wing span too large to give an exact estimate. Golden crystals could be seen on the sides of its head with the rest of it's body sporting smaller ones. Yellow eyes stared the humans below. This was the very creature that caused the deaths of many, Snaff included and was responsible for the disbandment of the original Destiny's Edge. It also was the killer of both of the assassin's parents. It was none other than the Void Aspect and Ruler of the Branded.

"_**KRALKATORRIK!" **_Both men howled with an ungodly amount of rage. The Elder Dragon smirked at the both of them.

* * *

**This chapter turned out way longer than I originally anticipated so sorry about the long pause. This marks the end of the Horizon Arc. Chapter 4 will start the Pursuit Arc where the duo will get a new member and make a trip to the Black Citadel. I'll also introduce three of my other OC's as well in that chapter. The beginning of Chapter 4 won't be nearly as long as this one and will just serve an intro into the arc. Anyway, cookies to whoever can figure out who the sylvari is but I ask you, if some of you happen to leave a review then please don't spoil it. Just pm me in my inbox if you know it.**

**Thanks and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Jet~**


	5. Unfortunate News Updated

**Sorry to say, I can't upload to this site anymore. It's just far too annoying when it comes to having to re-edit your work that you already spent several hours doing beforehand. I found another site that has more options and formats it more neatly, plus it has been redone there too. Anyway for those that read and care enough about the story can look at it on this site /works/2416244/chapters/5344982. I am no longer updating here so don't ask.**

**For some reason it isn't letting me add the http but just copy and paste the link that's in the sentence above and go to the one that has archiveofourown on it.**


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